


The Wicked Witch and the Sun Dragon

by Jack_Simpson



Category: RWBY
Genre: Dark Moments With Grimm Salem, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Grimm OC, Maternal Salem, OOC Salem, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:53:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 47,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28264980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jack_Simpson/pseuds/Jack_Simpson
Summary: Immortality is thought of as a blessing only by those who do not have it.For those who do, it is a curse than comes with many burdens indeed, but none is weighs more heavily than sheer boredom.It was getting repetitive, this war of theirs. She would dispatch proxies, her hated enemy would do the same and those proxies would fight, it was a repeating cycle with no end in sight.Finding herself in need of a mental breather from this tedium, Salem decides to take a quick break and allow her latest batch of subordinates to advance her most recent plans on their own, choosing a remote island away from the fiefdoms of her enemies to travel to.However, an unforeseen consequence of her own outdated memory lands her alone in a forest surrounded by Grimm....who no longer recognise her as their Queen thanks to her unique method of disguise.With magic no longer an option to defend herself, she prepares for the worst, until...."Hey! You leave her alone!"He was a curiosity to her....at first, but he wouldn't stay that way.
Relationships: Salem/Taiyang Xiao Long
Kudos: 16





	1. First Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> So, hello there. It's me again.
> 
> I honestly didn't think I would be re-posting this story. After the....direction the show took in Volume 7, I lost my interest in continuing my solo stories and never really thought I'd get them back.
> 
> However, all it took was me getting stuck on my Fate: Grand Order story, and being bored at work, for me to get some inspiration to finish the latest chapter that I'd started.
> 
> I honestly don't know if I can update this anywhere near as quickly as I used to, but the story is staying up this time, so any of you who enjoy reading it can always come back. I felt like keeping up a story I (at the time) had no intention of finishing was a bit dickish, but perhaps removing that story entirely was just as dickish, eh?
> 
> Well, enough from me already, please enjoy this story from me.
> 
> Regards.  
> Jack.

_“One of the main problems with immortality is that it tends to go on forever.”_

What an appropriate thought to plague her mind right now.

As the girl in front of her continued to talk, the black-robed woman allowed her thoughts to drift further and further away from the present, though her mastery of self-control ensured her underlings were none the wiser as to her waning attention.

And even if they did pick up on it, it wasn’t as if any of them would dare call attention to her distraction, not with what she could do to them without even moving.

She had heard that phrase long ago, lifetimes ago.

Millennia ago, in fact.

At the time, she had been young and naive. She had scoffed at the notion. What downside could immortality possibly have? You would live forever, protected from all disease and injury until the end of time.

Until of course, she was made immortal herself, the curse forced upon her by Humanity’s creators for her ‘transgressions’ against them.

She snorted mentally at that, struggling to keep her hands from curling into fists. Of course those divine hypocrites would punish HER for ‘disrupting the balance’, while completely ignoring their own rules when it suited THEM.

When she had come to them, begging for them to restore her lost love, she had been turned away. The Brother of Light had refused her plea, insisting that he couldn’t just bend the rules and that she needed to ‘let him rest’. Of course, he then had no problem with throwing those rules aside and restoring Ozma to life the instant it served HIS needs.

And if that wasn’t enough, he had seen fit to spite her one last time by poisoning her beloved against her, twisting his perceptions with lies and half-truths. Even after they’d reunited, he had always been a little wary of her, she had simply dared to hope that he would overcome his fears.

She was wrong.

Ozma had proven incapable of shaking off his doubts, the Light God’s lies taking root and turning him against her, until he had tried to leave. Not only that, he had tried to take their children with him, without even trying to talk to her first, he had simply attempted to abandon her in the middle of the night with nary a word.

The dark lady was forced to shift one of her hands under the meeting table, so that she might clench it without her servants being any the wiser. There was a flare of pain as she squeezed hard enough to break the skin and draw blood, but that was ignored. She was too angry to care.

Her anger only grew as her thoughts shifted to her _former_ husband, now her hated enemy. He never gave up in his efforts to thwart her, in his attempts to hinder her plans and bar her path. It wasn’t like she could just kill him either, the Brother of Light’s gift to him ensured that she would never be rid of him. Ozma, or rather Ozpin, as he now called himself, would always return to life. He wore a different face every time, sometimes his personality shifted slightly, but his aim was always the same.

To fight her, to hinder her, to _spite_ her with his continued defiance.

However, in recent years, a new enemy had begun to rear its head. A new obstacle for her plans and desires presented itself.

Much to her eternal frustration, and unlike Ozpin, there was seemingly no way to deal with this particular foe. 

It was relentless and unyielding in much the same way he was, but instead of outward opposition, it manifested as a steady pressure on her mind. It was slow at first, subtle and easily ignored. But the passage of time had not been kind, and her newest enemy had begun to gain ground, wearing at her sanity and concentration day-by-day, grating on her thoughts and eroding her resistance.

Or to put it in a far less dramatic way, Salem, Queen of the Grimm, wicked witch of Remnant and harbinger of darkness, was tired.

Not the physical kind either, the mental kind.

Salem could not help but recall the phrase from earlier once more, she had long since forgotten whom had first told her, but its relevance to her current situation was too potent to ignore.

If someone had told her, decades ago, that her greatest enemy would be not Ozpin but sheer _boredom,_ she would have laughed out loud.

Before killing whomever it was that dared challenge her like that.

Yet here she was now, surrounded by her (latest generation of) loyal underlings, with her newest recruit proudly reporting her success at stealing half of the Fall Maiden’s powers and advancing her agenda one step further, and she was _bored out of her skull._

The robed woman was aware that her newest servant was _still talking_ , this time her tone carrying an air of smug superiority. That could prove dangerous later on, the girl was far too eager to prove herself better than others, and to gain the power she thought she deserved. Still… properly tempered, her lust for power could be an excellent motivator, _if_ directed and handled properly, of course.

That was all the mental capacity Salem could spare for the girl (Cinder, was it?) before she lapsed back into her introspective thoughts, even they could entertain her far more than the self-aggrandizing boasts of a barely-restrained narcissist.

Still, the thoughts of her servants brought the Dark Queen back to her boredom, after all, they were one of the root causes.

It was always the same, she had realised. Day in and day out, for weeks, months, years, decades… _centuries_ even. She and Ozpin would gather their servants and pawns and make their attacks and counter attacks against one another, searching for a weakness in their opponent’s defenses and strategies to gain the advantage. 

It was… tiring. The realisation. The knowledge that this was what her life consisted of now. Warring eternally against her hated enemy, only this time it was a shadow war fought through proxies in the dark corners of the world. Both had long since stopped leading their followers personally, that was what caused her realisation, Salem reflected. It had taken a few hundred years from the reality to catch up to her, but without opportunities to personally slaughter the man who aggrieved her so as a constant distraction and outlet for her fury, Salem was forced to turn her thoughts inward more often than she had done before.

After her isolation from the world, it was only a matter of time until she began to see her situation for what it was. She was locked into a battle of wills and dominance with her former partner, there would be no end to it until one of them broke the other.

That could take centuries, possible millennia more. The Grimm Queen’s stubbornness and pride would not allow her to admit fault or submit to anyone, while her adversary’s infuriatingly strong willpower and determination ensured he would never throw down his arms or give up in accomplishing his mission.

They were at a stalemate, they had been for the last 500 or so years, and it was driving Salem out of her mind with boredom.

She needed something. She needed a change. It would be a temporary one for sure, her anger and pride were more than enough to spur her onward for as long as it took to tear down Ozpin’s little kingdoms and crush the man’s spirit completely.

A short rest from the constant back-and-forth would be good for her, it would allow her to re-focus herself for the coming centuries. Walking among those magicless facsimiles for Humans would give her a better insight into their behaviours, meaning it would be all the easier to manipulate and divide them in future.

Besides, a period of inactivity would likely cause her nemesis to let down his guard. A few years with no major Grimm attacks or movements from her supporters and agents would have Ozpin succumbing to complacency. When she did return to make her move, he would never see it coming and even if he did, he would be too slow to stop her agents.

Salem allowed a small smile to cross her face at the pleasant turn her thoughts had taken. Yes, a short break would do nicely for her. Returning her attention to the girl in front of her, the Dark Queen realised she had finished speaking and was looking at her expectantly.

Ah, of course, she expected some sort of praise, no doubt. Egotists or power seekers like her always enjoyed having their superiority, false or not, validated and acknowledged by others.

Well, if that was what it took to secure her continued service, then Salem would gladly provide the acknowledgement the girl sought.

“Well done, Cinder.” She started, eyeing her newest servant to check her reaction. There it was, the telltale glint in her eyes. “You have succeeded in taking half of the Fall Maiden’s power for yourself, you will claim the rest in time. For now, I will instruct you to harness your new abilities to their fullest potential. Follow my instructions, and the power you seek will be yours to claim in a few short years.”

Salem did NOT miss the flash of irritation that flickered across Cinder’s face at the words ‘a few short years’. That kind of impatience was especially dangerous, the Grimm Queen had learned from experience that if those thoughts and feelings were not stamped on soon, they would develop into full-fledged arrogance and entitlement. Salem had lost more than a few promising underlings to those sorts of thoughts, they had defied her orders to pursue more power and strength on their own… and paid for it with their lives when Ozpin’s little peons led them into traps.

Still, perhaps she should give this one the benefit of the doubt. If she kept her arrogance in check and followed Salem’s orders, then she would be rewarded for her efforts. If, however, this girl decided her needs superseded her Queen’s orders…

She would be useless to Salem, and be cast out.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, the hybrid woman glanced around the room at her other underlings. Tyrian was crouching on his chair and giggling like the psychotically devoted manchild he was, Hazel had his arms folded and listened patiently to the girl’s report, while Arthur wasn’t even _pretending_ to be interested in what Cinder was saying.

Salem frowned slightly as she recalled the rivalry that had developed between those two. Arthur enjoyed needling the girl’s intellectual deficiencies, while Cinder mocked his physical limitations. The pair wound one another up to no end, but Salem saw no reason to intervene just yet. In fact, their dislike of one another motivated both to put more energy into their work for her, in an attempt to outdo the other and rub their accomplishments in their rival’s face. 

However, should Cinder and Arthur’s animosity grow to the point of sabotaging their rival’s work, Salem would be compelled to step in and resolve their dispute… with force, if necessary.

But until then, and with all current business resolved, Salem decided to bring the meeting to a close.

“Unless anyone has any other information to share with the rest… then this meeting is adjourned, you may return to your quarters until I call for you.” Before anyone could object, the Queen stood up and left the room, her gentle pace making it seem as if she were _floating_ from the room. Tyrian’s exclamation of ‘farewell, my Goddess!’ warranted a small smile in response. At least _his_ loyalty was never in question.

\--------------

Line Break

\--------------

It was a short trip back to her quarters, but it gave her time to focus nonetheless. The empty halls, silent save for the gentle breeze blowing through from time to time, allowed a rare calm to wash over the Grimm Queen, a calm that drowned out all her anger and spite for a while.

It was… nice, peaceful.

But it wouldn’t stay that way, not for too long. It never did.

Hopefully her planned rest would give her some peace, before the next inevitable confrontation with her hated enemy.

Summoning the Prime Seer, Salem gave it instructions, to be carried out in her stead.

“You are to inform my subordinates that I will be unavailable for the next few days. Dispatch Hazel and Tyrian to Mistral, they are to find a weakness in Haven Academy. Arthur is to continue his surveillance of Atlas, while Cinder must be dispatched to Vale. Is that clear?”

_“Yes… mistress.”_ Anyone else would simply hear a soft and ghostly groaning noise, but Salem’s own status as a part-Grimm hybrid allowed her to understand the creatures’ language as if it were her own.

Patting her personal Seer on the bulbous mass that served as its head, Slame dismissed the Grimm before sealing the door to her sanctum. 

Now alone, she crossed over to her dresser and retrieved two things. One of those being a sword, she did need _some_ way to defend herself and it wasn’t like she could use her magic, the other being a white dress. 

It was almost identical to the one she once wore back when she’d first been freed from her imprisonment, when she’d once travelled with Ozma, with a few differences. Arthur and Hazel had insisted on weaving some heavier armor and protective materials into the fabric, as well as add some more visible armor plates. The two had warned her that carrying around a weapon _without_ looking somewhat like a Huntress would rouse some suspicion.

A brief flash of anger welled up at the thought of having to pose as one of Ozpin’s little defenders of Humanity, though Salem quashed it quickly, there would be time for anger later.

And speaking of suspicion… well, there was _no way_ she could walk outside the Grimmlands looking as she did now. At best, she’d be attacked as some form of freak Grimm. At worst, she’d draw the attention of Ozpin and his lackeys.

That was the last thing she needed.

Still, perhaps there _was_ something she could do about that.

Focusing her attention inward, Salem found the dark mass within that was responsible for her current state. The pure, distilled destructive essence that spawned the Grimm by the dozens every day, the same essence she had hoped would end her tormented existence.

Drawing upon her mana, Salem concentrated on that dark mass… then began using her mana to seal it away, deep enough within her body that it would no longer affect her physically.

It did not take long for her to feel the drain on her mana, and it took a little longer for her hands to begin shaking from the strain.

Dropping to her knees, with sweat beginning to coat her skin from the effort, Salem forced back a cry of pain as the dark mass began to recede, as her mana attempted to subjugate it by force. 

The essence began to lash out, unwilling to give up its host so easily, but slowly and surely it began to lose ground. Had Salem’s eyes not been screwed shut from the effort, she would have noticed the changes that were taking place.

Her deathly white skin took on a brighter hue, slowly becoming identical to the fair complexion she had possessed before her corruption, while the dark black veins that spiderwebbed her form began to recede and vanish. Her white hair surged with colour, streaks of blonde appearing at the roots and traveling to the tips. Behind her shut lids, the burning crimson of her irises was replaced by the calmer blue she was born with.

When the essence was finally contained, Salem collapsed, panting a little from the exertion. After wiping away the sweat that had collected on her face, she crossed to the bed and retrieved both the sword and armoured dress. After a swift enough change, with the sword being hooked into the scabbard that Arthur and Hazel had included with the belt, Salem decided to examine herself in the nearby mirror.

Yes, the disguise was good enough, she looked just like her old self… perhaps even better. She noticed that she had gotten significantly curvier and ampler than she already had been, but that wasn’t surprising considering that literal millennia had passed for her.

Still, a small moment of preening at her appearance was probably allowed.

One that was done, Salem drew on her mana reserves once more… only to frown slightly. There was barely any left to power the teleportation spell she planned to use, almost her entire reserve was being diverted to bind the Grimm essence, to keep her in this state.

A minor setback really, but any setback was still irritating for her.

Well, no turning back now. Even if her teleport’s reach was now limited, Salem could still find somewhere to go.

With her connection to the Grimm cut off, she had to rely on memory for a suitable destination. The kingdoms were obviously out, Vale especially, Salem would never be so stupid as to simply waltz into the fortress of her hated enemy like that.

No matter how satisfying it would be to do so, it would be the ultimate insult to her nemesis, to walk freely among the citizens of ‘his’ kingdom with him being none the wiser.

While Vale was unsuitable, if memory served her, there _was_ a small island nearby, housing one of the lesser combat academies and a much smaller population. It was a far better destination for her purposes, isolated and small enough that her presence would go unnoticed, while close enough to Vale to still offer the metaphorical middle finger to her nemesis.

Yes, it was decided.

Channelling the dregs of her magic into a transit spell, Salem took one last look at herself in the mirror, pulling the accessories from her hair and allowing the blonde locks to flow freely down her back, before vanishing with a loud ‘POP’.

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For once, it was the soft barking that roused him from his slumber.

Taiyang Xiao Long blearily opened his azure eyes and sat up, yawning and stretching as he did so. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the man glanced around and was beginning to move from his bed when he heard the soft barking again.

“Urgh.” He groaned. “Alright boy, I get it. I get it.”

The father made his way downstairs to find Zwei, his faithful corgi, bouncing eagerly beside his bowl. A small smile made its way onto his face, while a chuckle slipped from his lips as his gaze met the dog’s.

“Yeah, I’m hungry too. Guess I should thank you for getting me up today.” Tai shuffled over to the cupboards to pull out both a tea bag for his morning cup and a can of dog food for his corgi. Popping off the lid with a casual flick of his wrist, a good shake was all it took to send the meaty chunks into the bowl.

Zwei barked happily, burying his face into his breakfast and scarfing it down while Tai watched, another small smile crossing his face. His pet seemed to treat every meal as if it were his last, you’d never think that he was well fed with the frantic way he ate.

It didn’t take long to brew his tea, partly because he could simply heat the water up himself in about half a minute. He didn’t take it with milk either, so the tea was ready in about a minute and a half. 

Unfortunately, that was all it took for Zwei to polish off his breakfast, even licking his bowl utterly clean. As Tai finally took the first sip of his morning tea, he heard another bark. Looking over, he saw that the small corgi was near the door now, glancing at it then at his master repeatedly.

“At least let me finish my tea before you go rushing out, boy.” Tai grumbled good naturedly. He swore that dog was as excitable and hyperactive as his little Ruby from time to time, that must be why they got along so well.

The father’s thoughts turned for the moment to his two girls. Both of them were currently attending Signal academy, preparing themselves to enter one of the four prestigious Hunter Academies and train properly to become Huntresses. His elder daughter, Yang, wanted a life of adventure and thrills while Ruby, the younger, wanted to help people try and be a hero.

Tai, however, knew that there was a deeper reason with Yang. The girl wanted to finally track down Raven Branwen, her biological mother and Taiyang’s first wife, who’d run out on them shortly after Yang’s birth. 

The man frowned at the memory, slightly cursing himself for not doing enough to dissuade Yang from trying to find her. He’d hoped that she’d give up after what happened 9 years ago…

Then there was Ruby. She was so much like her mother, Summer Rose, to the point that she was essentially a younger copy of Tai’s second wife. They shared the same ideals, the same desire to help people, the same social awkwardness in youth… and the same Silver Eyes.

And that scared Tai. It scared him a lot.

Summer had been an incredible person, a prodigal Huntress who saved lives and slaughtered Grimm by the thousands. She’d been unstoppable, she’d been an inspiration to both Tai and Qrow in the days of team STRQ.

And she’d also died on a mission. Alone. Away from her family and her team. She’d not lived to see her daughters (biological and adopted alike) grow up.

No one had gotten out unscathed. Qrow had retreated into his flask and hadn’t come out, he rarely visited as often as he used to anymore. Tai himself had just… shut down, he’d lost himself, thought that wasn’t even the worst part. 

The worst part was that he’d only snapped out of his apathy after his little girls had almost died, and they’d almost died because the 8 year old Yang had decided to take Ruby with her on a journey to find Raven. Thank the Gods that Qrow had decided to follow them, if he’d not been there…

The thought still sent chills down the father’s spine, even today.

He was snapped out of his darker musings by another round of soft barks from Zwei, the cogi whimpering a little and tilting his head, as if sensing his master’s slight distress. Tai smiled apologetically at the dog.

“Sorry Zwei, just got a little distracted is all.” He crossed over to the door and yanked it open, allowing Zwei to bounce out and start jumping and running around the front of the house while Tai made sure the door was locked behind him.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, the father made his way toward the line of trees surrounded the field his house was in. Even if there were Grimm present, they wouldn't be a problem for him to deal with, even Zwei could defend himself well enough.

In fact, Tai was actually hoping there’d be some strays he could pick off. Hunting the Grimm had always helped to calm his mind and ease the stress he sometimes felt. And with the darker turn his thoughts had taken just now, the blonde brawler felt in need of some stress relief right now.

As if his secret prayers were answered, a few loud roars echoed through the forest, catching the attention of both Tai and Zwei. 

“Zwei! Follow that sound!” Tai ordered.

The corgi reacted quickly, taking off at a run and barking all the way, while pacing himself to ensure that his master could keep up. It took the duo about a minute to reach the source of the roars, with Zwei eventually charging on ahead at Tai’s insistence to clear a path.

Though Tai vaguely noticed the woman both surrounded by and in combat with the Grimm, almost all Beowolves , his attention was focused almost wholly on the largest Grimm. At least three piles of dust told him that his faithful corgi was hard at work, that simply left the big one for his master to deal with. Clenching his fists, Tai made a beeline for the Beringel, the Grimm quickly refocusing to try and deal with the newest threat.

The keyword there being ‘try’.

The blonde man dodged the first swipe of the Beringel’s fist, lashing out with a punch of his own to catch the creature’s retracting arm and knock it off balance. His prey lashed out with the other fist, which Tai caught and broke with his own hand. As the creature screeched in pain, the father brought both his fists up and began tapping into his Semblance.

The last thing the Beringel saw was the Veteran Hunter’s flame-coated fists swiping downward to crush it’s skull into paste.

As the beringel’s corpse began to dissolve, Tai glanced around the area, checking for any more Grimm. But he found none, only piles of steadily dissolving black dust. He smiled triumphantly, Zwei would be getting a treat for his hard work.

Speaking of Zwei, the corgi had now run over to the woman whom the Grimm had been attacking. As Tai began to approach, she picked herself up and retrieved a sword fallen beside her, which was placed in a scabbard at her. That, and the Dust-reinforced leather and tight armor of her dress/tunic ensemble made her out to be a Huntress. Well, at least she wasn’t completely defenseless, though how she’d struggled with a few Beowolves was-

And then he stopped, because by that point he and the woman were looking each other in the eyes.

While she was _not_ the only blonde-haired and blue-eyed woman on Remnant, hell even on Patch itself, Taiyang couldn’t help but stare. Something about her beauty seemed almost… inhuman. He blinked and shook his head slightly, if only to stop himself staring any longer, he didn’t want to look like a creep for goodness sake! 

Just when he thought he’d gotten over it, the woman opened her mouth and began to speak.

“Well, hello there.” She greeted him. “I appreciate your assistance with those Grimm.” Oh geez, Tai thought, her voice was the same as her looks! There was just _something_ about it that seemed… _otherworldly._

“Ah, i-it's no bother, really!” Tai cursed inwardly at his voice choosing NOW of all times to stutter. “Us Hunters gotta stick together, it’s fine. So… I’m Taiyang Xiao Long, but you can just call me Taiyang.” 

He stuck his hand out, which she shook. Tai’s eyes widened just a tad at the strength behind those dainty fingers, this woman was quite a bit stronger than she looked.

“Well hello Taiyang, and it would be insulting of me not to give my name to my saviour.” The woman offered him a small smile. “My name is Seline, Seline Luna.”


	2. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem's attempted break is cut short by an accident within the city....and a dark presence from within.

Well, her plan was off to a  _ smashing _ start. 

She had chosen the location for her teleport carefully, intending to arrive near the largest village that existed on the island, that way there would be plenty of opportunities for her to observe the common people in their natural habitat and daily routines.

In retrospect, choosing the teleport location from memory was not the best idea she’d ever had, for one simple fact.

The memory of an immortal had a danger of being… outdated from time to time.

As a result, she had arrived not on the outskirts of a bustling town or even a halfway-decent trading post, but right in the middle (or what she assumed was the middle, trees had surrounded her on all sides so it was somewhat difficult to tell) of a dense forest of trees. Of course, this meant that Salem had no idea where she was or which way would lead her to civilisation.

Any other time, it would have been easy for her to trace any nearby living beings via magical tracking, but since the vast majority of her magic was occupied suppressing the Grimm essence and she’d used the last dregs of her available reserves to fuel the teleport spell, she was rather stuck.

After a short… well, a short yet embarrassing  _ tantrum _ on her part, she resolved to simply pick a direction and walk until she found some evidence of Human activity, that should hopefully lead her to a population center. Even if it took her days, it wasn’t as if time was a limiting factor for her anymore.

Of course, the second and rather more irritating complication presented itself not an hour into her journey, in the form of a Beringel-led Beowolf pack emerging from the surrounding foliage to bar her way.

At first, she had simply assumed that they were naturally drawn to her, she was their Queen after all.

That assumption had been disproven once the creatures began to snarl and growl at her… and that was all she heard. She couldn’t understand or communicate with them anymore, and if she couldn’t commune with them, then logically they wouldn’t accept her commands.

It was her disguise, it had to be. They must not recognise her as one of their own with her magical suppression of the corrupting substance that usually scourged her body. She was, in effect, like any other human to them….like  _ prey _ to them.

Even as she was forced to unsheathe her sword and defend herself from the pack’s advance, there was one remaining question that stung at her mind. How had they been tracking her? She had not been at all afraid, so how-

Ah. Of course. Fear was not the only emotion the Grimm were drawn to, any negative emotion would suffice, including anger.

And if there was one emotion Salem knew she had in abundance, it was anger. Anger at the Gods, anger at those fools who stood in the way of the unity she brought them, anger at every single person that swallowed Ozpin’s lies, that offered themselves to his cause. And of course there was her boiling, seething, boundless hate for the man himself. For the traitor who had looked her in the eyes and sworn he would stay with her ‘till death do them part’, and then attempted to abandon her when he lacked the spine to do what needed to be done.

In hindsight, it was a minor miracle that a single pack of Beowolves (plus the Beringel) were the only metaphorical moths drawn to the burning fire that was her rage.

Still, even that single pack had proven too much for her to handle. Though her blade was sharp enough to cut through their hides with ease, it could only do so if she actually managed to  _ hit _ them. She was by no means clumsy or uncoordinated… it was simply that the vast majority of her limited combat experience lay in the realm of magical combat. Magic that she couldn’t access.

It was at that moment that she regretted not taking Ozma up on his offer of training all those millennia ago.

Without the essence of destruction amplifying her strength and durability, her sword strikes were far less powerful than they usually were. Though a few of the creatures fell to her blade, the others rather swiftly overwhelmed her once the Beringel noticed her weakness and began directing its brethren.

Even though her immortality would ensure any damage she took was healed eventually and that she wouldn’t expire (at least, not forever), a Beowolf’s fangs and claws tearing into her skin still hurt, quite a lot in fact.

Which was why she was thankful to her saviour (and his pet) for rescuing her when he did. It was admittedly quite impressive, the way he simply crushed the Beringel beneath his fists with a mere few strokes. Even his dog put up an impressive display, ripping out the throats of the remaining Beowolves with lethal efficiency while his master dealt with the leader.

Which brought them to now, with her face-to-face with her saviour. It was at least mildly surprising that he was blonde and blue-eyed as she was, even though there would inevitably be many more individuals with those qualities. More surprising was that he did not have a visible weapon on his person, did he really crush that Beringel with his bare hands?

Hmmm… that was a least a tad impressive.

“So, Seline huh?” The man, Taiyang, asked her. “Never heard a name like that before, I’ll be honest.”

“Yes, my family didn’t really believe in naming their members after a colour.” The lie came to her easily enough, it would not be the worst lie she’d ever told.

“Well, I still think it’s a nice name.” Tai admitted. “So then Seline… what’s someone like you doing out in the middle of nowhere? You trying to find something out here?” 

“Ah, well...” Think, Salem, think! “I’m afraid I am quite lost.”

What!? That was the best excuse she had!?

“Really?” Tai had a small smile on his face now. “Wow, I honestly wasn’t expecting an answer like that. Well, where did you want to get to?”

“Any nearby town or settlement will be sufficient.” Salem replied bluntly.

“Uh… right.” Taiyang now looked rather confused, but he didn’t offer any further questions, instead pointing to the southeast of their current position. “Well, the closest town is the port city just on the coast. Just walk for an hour or so and you’ll get there fine. If you like, I could make sure you get there okay, I know the way well enough.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I think I will be f-aah!” A sudden lance of pain from her upper back cut her off. Salem instinctively clutched at the afflicted shoulder, only to discover three rather large gashes in the skin. She must’ve taken a heavier hit from that one Beowolf than she thought.

“Hey, are you alright!?” An alarmed Tai stepped forward and, before Salem could stop him or reassure him, slipped behind her and gotten a good look at the injury. “Looks like you took a bad hit back there… why hasn’t your Aura been healing it?” The man raised an eyebrow.

This gave Salem pause. It wasn’t as if there was no explanation for her lack of Aura, in fact there was a very good reason for her Aura not healing her injury.

In that she didn’t have one in the first place. None of the people of her ‘generation’ had ever been able to use Aura. Besides, why would she need the power of the soul, when she had magic available? Aura was simply a weak and ineffective substitute for mana, just as this current generation of Humans were a weak and ineffective substitute for Salem’s civilisation.

But it wasn’t like she could just tell that to the man in front of her, was it? Not without revealing certain truths that she would much rather keep to herself, for the sake of her cover. Killing him would be simple enough, she would only need to unleash the Grimm essence once more to regain her magic after all, but it would bring down unwanted attention.

She needed an excuse… now.

“I’ve tried awakening my Aura before, but I can’t unlock it.”Well, it wasn’t the best lie she’d ever come up with, but it’d have to do.

Tai frowned at that. “Seriously? Well… that’s just plain weird, I’ve never heard of anyone who can’t unlock their Aura before. But just to be sure, I’d like to have a try, if you’re willing that is.” He offered a small smile.

“Alright then.” Well, there was no harm in it, at least then he’d accept the story when he tried and- “W-what are you doing?” She was interrupted by her new companion placing one hand on her shoulder and then the other on her cheek, what sort of game was he playing? Did he even understand how great a liberty he was taking!? 

She also cursed her stutter while she was at it, she was NOT some weak and frail young thing that needed saving or stuttered like that around men, she was the Queen of the Grimm and the most powerful being on Remnant! At least, she  _ would  _ be, if not for her disguised state.

“I’m unlocking your Aura.” He reassured her, before losing his eyes and starting to speak again.

_ “For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.” _ There was a light golden-orange glow surrounding his body, and Salem realised that this must be how Aura was unlocked, though some sort of ritual. She had never seen it done before, so to witness it first hand was admittedly fascinating for the immortal witch.

Already, the boredom that had been strangling her mind was receding, washed away by these new experiences. Perhaps this plan would be more beneficial than she’d hoped.

As he finished the chant, Taiyang took a step back, looking a little drained from the process. Once more, he checked her shoulder to inspect the injury, and frowned as he realised it hadn’t changed.

“What the…? Now that’s just plain weird.” He mused out loud. “Well, I guess you were being honest after all, Seline. I don’t know how or why, but your Aura isn’t healing this injury, and apparently it doesn’t protect you either.” He gave her an apologetic smile.

“That is quite alright, this is a rather strange situation after all.” Salem bit back a wince at another lance of pain in her shoulder, which Tai picked up on.

“Well, truth or not, that shoulder needs treatment before the wound gets infected. There’s a few clinics at the port that can fix you right up!”

“Ah, I see. Well, I’d best be going then.” Salem began to trudge slowly in the direction Taiyang and earlier indicated. “It was nice to me-, what are you doing?” Her farewell segwayed into a question as she noticed the man fall into step beside her.

“Coming with you.” He replied, simply. “Someone needs to make sure you get to the port safely, after all.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I can make the journey on my own.” She insisted.

“Really?” Tai asked, a hint of sarcasm edging into his voice. “Because last I checked, you can’t use your Aura and you struggled with a few Beowolves and a Beringel back there, so if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll come along.”

The sarcasm grated on her more than she cared to admit, which was why her next question was more cutting and accusatory than she’d intended. “Why are you so concerned about someone you’ve only just met, is it some sort of idealistic urge to play Knight In Shining Armor, hmm?”

To her surprise, Tai face crumpled into a stoney expression, his face neutral and his blue eyes going dull. Salem could tell that she’d hit upon a rather sensitive issue. “Because the last time I didn’t go with someone to look out for them, they didn’t come back.” He said, quietly.

Well, that was not what she had been expecting.

“I… I apologise. That was insensitive of me.” The apology came more easily than Salem thought it would, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it before Taiyang started talking again.

“Well, it’s not like you’d automatically know about my past, is it?” Tai half-joked, but the look of pain that flashed across his face still gave Salem pause. She had seen that same look before, and she knew it quite well.

After, she’d seen it in the mirror almost every day after Ozma had first been taken from her.

“This person… were you close to them?” She asked, an uncharacteristic nervousness creeping into her voice. She could already guess his answer, but she just needed to confirm it.

“Yeah. I was.” Tai admitted. “I was pretty close.”

For perhaps the first time in a very long time, the Dark Queen felt a twinge of sympathy, directed at the man in front of her. He had suffered, that much was clear, suffered like she had. He too had had a loved one torn away from him, helpless to stop their passing and obviously still grieving for them.

“I see, I apologise for any offence.” She bowed her head slightly. “If there is any way I can make amends-”

“Just let me help you get to the port, and we’ll call it even, how about that?” Her head shot up, their blue eyes meeting. They seemed to have regained some of the spark they’d possessed previously. Was he… actually forgiving her so easily, and for so small a price in exchange?

That was certainly confusing for her, she’d have expected a steeper price for reconciliation after her rather insensitive comment about his lost loved one. She had not been quite so forgiving in the days after Ozma’s passing. 

But then again, he was quite unlike her in many ways. Salem chastised herself internally for not anticipating that.

“Well, I suppose I can accept your offer of an escort.” She said, a little teasingly. “It is the least I can do.”

“Well, alright then. Come on boy!” Tai called back to his pet, the corgi instantly zipping over to his master. “Take us to the port, Zwei.” At those words, the dog moved a few feet in front of them, beginning the journey to the settlement at a slower and more measured pace, presumably to allow them to keep up.

Tai set off at a leisurely stroll, and after a moment’s hesitation, Salem began to follow him.

\-------------

Line Break

\-------------

Thankfully, they’d reached the port without any unexpected encounters, mostly because Zwei was quick to pick off any Grimm that happened to wander by. Tai made a mental note to buy the corgi some dog treats while he was here.

However, the first priority was finding a doctor or surgeon to treat Seline’s shoulder, the longer they left it, the higher the chance that she’d catch some infection. Tai cursed himself for not bringing along any bandages, but then again he’d not exactly expected to run into anyone in the middle of the forest.

Glancing over at his companion, Tai couldn’t help but smile as the other blonde glanced around at the hustle and bustle of the port. Her attention seemed to be drawn by every little thing that was going on, with a constantly curious expression on her face that the father found adorable.

“You seem like you’re pretty new to this kind of atmosphere Seline, you ever been to a big city before?” he asked, just in an attempt to make conversation. Even with the constant background chatter, it felt rather awkward for them to walk along in silence.

“Ah… no, I have not.” She admitted, rubbing one arm with another, which unfortunately was the arm with the injured shoulder, causing her to hiss softly in pain.

“Alright, let’s find someone to fix you up before we do anything else.” Tai gently insisted. Fortunately, Seline didn’t argue with him, she simply nodded and replied.

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, stay close, alright?” Tai asked. “I know there’s not  _ too _ many people here, but considering that you’re injured and you, you know…”

Fortunately, Seline simply nodded in understanding, falling into step beside him once more. With that, Tai set off to find some medical help for his companion.

It didn’t take them too long, since Tai had remembered the location of a friendly surgeon, willing to treat Seline’s injuries for a reasonably low price. Tai had just lied and said her Aura had been broken before one of the Grimm got in a lucky swipe. They’d accepted the explanation without complaint and then got to work.

It had taken them about half an hour to apply antiseptic and then stitch the injury up, Seline didn’t complain aside from the occasional wince of pain from the stitches. After they were done, she had insisted on paying her own fee, which led to Tai teasingly asking if she knew what Lien was.

“Of  _ course _ I know what  _ Lien _ is, you bu-” She began hotly, only to narrow her blue eyes and then tilt her head. “Oh I see, you were making a joke at my expense, weren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged.” Tai just shrugged and smiled disarmingly, which led to Seline just huffing and stomping out of the clinic after paying her fee. He found her outside, where she’d stopped with a curious expression on her face again.

“So, what’s so interesting about that-” He glanced over to the stall she was staring at. “-sweet stall, then?”

“What  _ is  _ that concoction?” She mused, out loud. “It looks so… fluffy and pink.”

“You’ve seriously never seen candy floss before?” Tai asked, mildly incredulously. Just how sheltered  _ was  _ she!?

His companion just shook her head. “I’m afraid not, the settlement I grew up in… did not have the time for such indulgences.”

Now that was just  _ sad _ , going all this time without something like candy floss? That was… wrong. Well, he’d just have to do something about it, then.

“You want to try some?” He asked, pulling some Lien from his wallet, much to Seline’s mild surprise.

“Well, I wouldn’t be averse, but you don’t have to-”

“I insist.” He cut in. “My treat. Look, if you’re going to a big city or settlement, the  _ least _ you can do is sample the sweets on offer, okay?”

Seline didn’t look wholly convinced, she folded her arms and narrowed her azure orbs. “This is some sort of tradition, then?”

“Uh… yeah, sure.” Tai lied.

“Very well then.” With that, Seline marched off toward the stall, with Tai following along with the Lien ready. She waited patiently while he paid for two sticks of candy floss, then quirked an eyebrow as she was handed one.

She gave him a look that  _ screamed _ ‘well now what do I do?’.

Tai simply held up his own sugary treat and began taking bites out of it. Seline looked back and forth a few times, before shrugging and taking her own tentative bite, she chewed the mouthful for a while before swallowing it.

Then she, in Tai’s opinion, went nuts.

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After her sixth bushel of candy floss, Tai knew he had to cut her off.

He’d needed to drag Seline away from the stall by force in the end, which hadn’t been too hard since she’d been on the verge of some sugar-coma from all the sugary goodness she’d been consuming.

Once he’d managed to get her away from the source of the sugar, it hadn’t taken the blonde woman long to come back to her senses, but she still managed to shoot a rather impressive pout and glare Tai’s way once he’d dragged them far enough.

“That was unnecessary.”

“You were going to eat his entire stock if I didn’t stop you!” Tai protested, folding his arms.

“And how would that impact his livelihood?” Seline shot back. “If anything, he would have thanked me for my purchases.”

“Yeah, but it’s generally not socially acceptable to just go around eating a stall’s entire stock, you know.” He said, half-sarcastically.

“I was hungry.” She defended. “Besides, if I'm not supposed to eat all of the shopkeeper’s stock, why would he provide such an addictive treat?”

Tai just sighed and pinched his nose. “...Maybe because he needs to attract a lot of customers to make money?”

“I would have provided all the Lien he was owed for his stock.” Seline insisted. “With interest as well, to thank him for selling such a creation.”

“Well, at least you’re fair about it.” Tai admitted. “So, where to now?” He decided to move the conversation along, if he kept debating with her about candy floss he suspected they’d be here all day, given how stubborn she was likely to be regarding her attempt to buy that entire stall’s stock moments ago.

“Well, perhaps we could-” She began, only for a loud explosion to cut her off. Tai whirled around to see a worryingly large plume of smoke rising from the west, within the port’s boundaries.

“Come on!” Tai didn’t waste a second, bolting down the road with Zwei beside him. He didn’t bother to check whether Seline was following him, he was too focused on what might have happened to create the smoke he was seeing.

He wouldn’t have to speculate for long.

The plume of smoke had started to wither as the Huntsman approached, and it was after he arrived that he saw why. Aside from the usual water hoses being used on the fire, there were also those responders armed with Wind Dust crystals to blow out the flames in places the hoses couldn’t reach.

That was not what made Taiyang stop cold, a pit in his stomach.

Those would be the tarps draped over eight very human-looking forms, surrounded by at least a dozen people, all of whom were either crying or trying not to. Casualties of the blaze and their family members, no doubt.

The veteran Hunter was so caught up in staring at the scene in front of him that he barely noticed Seline catching up to and stopping beside him, her own eyes rather wide. They stood there for quite a while, unable to tear their eyes away from the blaze or the casualties.

Tai was eventually snapped out of his shock when he noticed his companion beginning to shiver, her eyes screwed shut. Quickly, he took her by the arm and led her away from the blaze.

_ She must not have seen anything like that before. _ The father thought, grimly.  _ She’s probably having a hard time taking it all in, I’d better get her out of here so she can process it properly. _

Tai eventually found a small alleyway for them to duck into, where he and Seline simply spent the next minute or so in silence. The blonde veteran had seen tragic scenes like that too many times before, but even if he got over them reasonably fast it was still a small shock to see again. Seline, on the other hand, still had her eyes closed and was breathing heavily, trying to control herself.

Eventually, her own blue eyes opened to meet Tai’s, and the man could see that she looked pretty shaken up still.

“Are you alright?” He asked, though he was sure he knew the answer already.

“I… no, I am not.” Seline admitted, wrapping her arms around herself. “Forgive me if I sound rude, but might I have some time alone to deal with this myself? Seeing that… it was rather a lot to deal with all at once.”

“Are you sure? I could stay if you want, it’s no trouble.” Tai insisted, but the woman waved him off with an apologetic smile.

“Thank you for the offer, Taiyang, but I think I simply need some time alone.”

“Well, alright then. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?” He asked, a slight hope in his voice. It had been ages since he’d found someone even remotely close to his own age who would talk to him besides Qrow, who was almost never around.

And sure, Seline had her… quirks, but who doesn't these days? She was still enjoyable company nonetheless.

His fellow blonde offered a smaller, but more genuine smile this time. “Well, it may take some time, but I would like that.”

“See you around then, Seline.” Tai offered her his hand.

“Farewell for now, Taiyang Xiao Long.” She shook it readily, before turning on her heel and departing the alley, leaving Tai alone with his thoughts and his corgi. 

The dog’s small yap drew his attention, the blaze and the aftermath already weighing far less heavily on his mind. Tai offered Zwei a small smile.

“What a day, eh boy?” He got another yap in reply. “Well, let’s see if we can’t get you some treats, I’ve not forgotten what you did in the forest.” Zwei barked happily at that news, leaving the single father to lead the way out of the alley in search of some treats for the dog.

Only a few moments later did he realise that he forgot to ask Seline for her Scroll number, to keep in touch.

“Ah, dammit!”

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As soon as she knew she was alone, having found a deserted back alley to duck into, Salem let herself collapse into a heap on the floor. She took a few heavy breaths, running shaking hands through her hair before jamming them over her ears.

It was a desperate, but futile, attempt to block out the increasingly loud, guttural and echoing voice in her head.

**Despair… grief… rage. Hunger… kill… destroy.**

_ Shut up!  _ Salem snarled into her mind.  _ Shut UP! _

But the dark essence would not be dissuaded, it had gotten a taste of the negativity radiating from the relatives of those lost in that fire, and it now craved more.

**Humans near… kill… KILL.** The essence only grew louder in response, the pressure in Salem’s mind increasing by a worrying margin.

There was nothing else for it, she needed to appease it somehow… the forest should have what she needed.

It took her longer than she would have liked to reach the forest from the outskirts of the port, with the essence’s echoing and deep voice growling at her all the while, demanding that blood be spilled.

_ A moment longer, damn you! _

After she’d reached the forest proper, with the port settlement in the distance and no risk of anyone finding her, Salem took a deep breath… and released the magical locks she’d placed on the Grimm essence.

She was forced to her knees, clapping a hand over her mouth to keep from  _ screaming  _ as the physical manifestation of untempered hatred and a boundless desire for destruction scourged her body. Her blonde hair and fair skin were bleached white, the blue of her eyes surged a violent crimson and her veins grew black and sickly, all accompanied by an agonising pain.

After a minute or two of this torment, the pain finally vanished as the essence took hold, leaving Salem panting on the ground, feeling breathless and drained. On the plus side, her magic was now freed up for her to use as she pleased.

The essence’s voice had gotten significantly quieter, but it was still whispering into the Queen’s mind, demanding appeasement.

Acting quickly, Salem drew on her mana and began launching large fireballs at all the surrounding flora and fauna within her view. With each tree that caught on fire and every animal that turned and fled from their burning habitats in terror, the dark essence’s presence in her consciousness dwindled, its thirst for negativity appeased by the panic of the local wildlife.

By the time the entire clearing was ablaze, its presence had receded fully into her subconscious, leaving Salem alone with her thoughts.

After making sure the blaze wouldn’t spread further than was necessary, via some well-placed magical barriers that would constrain the blaze until it ran out of fuel and burnt out, Salem began channelling her mana to her teleport spell once more. While she waited, she began to think about the events of today.

Aside from the interruption, she had been having a rather pleasant time. Today had been perhaps the first time in millennia that Salem had not been occupied with her war against her nemesis, she had simply been able to sample the curiosities of modern society at her leisure.

It had been refreshing and enlightening, it had also been… nice. Her mind felt clearer and sharper than it had been in quite some time, the boredom that had been debilitating her was gone entirely.

She would like to have a day like this again, sometime.

Her spell charged, Salem allowed herself a small smile before vanishing with a loud ‘CRACK’ and a swirl of energy.


	3. Family Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tai spends some time chatting to his family members, while trying to keep his new friend a secret.

The only sound that filled the small, lone path through the forest was a soft whistling, accompanied at times by the yaps and barks of a dog.

Taiyang Xiao Long was making his way home, this time with a slight spring in his step and a smile on his face, his faithful corgi Zwei running rings around him all the while.

Both were quite uncommon for the man when he was alone in his house, without his brother-in-law or his daughters to occupy his attention, his thoughts usually took a rather dreary turn.

Even though he could always visit the nearby port and there was his job at Signal, those didn’t provide the same relief that his family did. Tai sighed, he’d taken the week off teaching, but he’d be going back in a few days time.

Still, today had been rather pleasant for the man, despite one or two hiccups here and there. He’d met an awkward and quirky woman in the forest, spent the day showing her around, it had been a welcome use of his time. He’d actually managed to have fun.

Seline Luna. It wasn’t the kind of name he was used to hearing but that was alright, he supposed it was just another one of her unique little quirks, or in this case her  _ family’s  _ unique quirk.

His thoughts turned towards concern when he remembered what had happened shortly before they’d parted ways. The explosion and fire in the port, the dead bodies, the grieving families…

She’d said she’d be okay, that she just needed some time alone to cope, but the blonde man couldn’t help but worry. That look in her eyes… Tai suspected she wasn’t used to dealing with that kind of death up close, he was worried about what exactly she’d do to try and deal with it.

Another sigh slipped past his lips. As cruel as it might sound, he couldn’t spend all this time worrying about her and speculating about her wellbeing, not when he couldn’t do anything for her personally. The only thing he could do was wait until they met again… and hope that she was alright.

More barks from Zwei drew the brawler’s attention. Oh, they were at the house already? Wow, time really does fly when you’re having fun. 

Or getting lost in thought, apparently.

“I get it, you want to go in and get some food, right boy?” Chuckling, Tai leaned down to pat the adorable corgi on the head. Zwei had more than enjoyed the treats that he’d gotten for his helpful efforts today, but his appetite had always been larger than usual.

As if on cue, a gurgling rumble sounded from his own stomach, causing Tai to raise an 

eyebrow and glance at Zwei again. 

“Well, I guess we could both do with some food.” With a yip from his dog, the man fished out his keys, opened the front door and stepped into his house again.

Where he was immediately hit full in the face with the reeking stench of alcohol. It was strong enough that he recoiled back, screwing his nose up. Beside him, even Zwei whimpered and whined as his more sensitive nose was also assaulted by the smell.

Tai couldn’t stop a frown spreading across his face and a heavy, tired exhale from slipping past his lips. There was only one person he knew who both smelled like a distillery 90% of the time and had reason to come here.

Braving the smell and striding into the kitchen, Tayang found the source of the smell leaning on the kitchen counter, pouring the contents of his flask into a bowl of cereal. It would’ve shocked the man if this were the first time he’d come home to such a scene… or indeed the twentieth.

“Afternoon Qrow.” Tai greeted the other man, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.

All at once, Qrow yelped and jumped in surprise, hit his head on the still-opened cabinet door, spilt his liquor and cereal all over the kitchen counter, then slipped on the small portion of liquor that landed at his feet and crashed to the floor.

All Tai could muster was a suffering sigh. Well, it wasn’t the  _ worst _ thing to have happened to him.

As Qrow sat up on his elbows, he found an outstretched hand waiting for him to haul him upright. Taking a box of tissues from the nearby table, the blonde man offered his teammate a tissue or two to wipe himself down, while using the others to begin wiping up the spillage. 

“Thanks.” Qrow began wiping his jacket and trousers down, with limited success. “Damn it, I’ll have to wash this now.” He grumbled. With a snarl of frustration, the Huntsman simply shuffled over and began helping the other man with wiping up the rest of the mess. It didn’t take them long.

“So, what brings you here today then?” Tai asked, taking a seat at the table and levelling a gaze at the dark-haired man. While he once thought nothing of dropping by every now and then, Qrow rarely visited for purely social reasons anymore, not since...

Well, best not to dwell on that. For the sake of his mood.

“Huh?” Qrow glanced up into his friend’s azure orbs, seeing the curiosity.

“What brings you here? Is it about the girls or the job-?” Noticing Qrow’s face darken slightly, Tai stopped and frowned. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really, but you’re just gonna keep pushing till I do, aren’t you?” The other man replied. Off the blonde father’s nod, Qrow took his own seat at the table. He lifted his flask to take a drink, remembered it was almost empty, and stowed it back in his jacket pocket with a frustrated grunt.

“Where to start?” He mumbled, staring down at the table.

“At the beginning?” Tai couldn’t suppress a smirk at his comment, and especially at Qrow’s light glare.

“Har har har, smartass.” He shot back. “But yeah, okay.”

There was a silence for a few moments, mostly as Qrow tried to find the right words.

“Well, if it’s about the job, something must’ve happened on your rounds.” Tai observed, deciding to start things off.

“Yeah. Something happened alright.” Qrow admitted. “I was… Oz asked me to help someone important on the road, keep ‘em safe, that kinda thing. I was supposed to watch over them.”

“So what happened? I’m guessing that if you’re here drinking like this, then it didn’t go well.”

“Ha!” Qrow offered nothing but a harsh bark of laughter. “Spot on there, Tai. It didn’t go well at all, not in the slightest. The girl was ambushed, I didn’t get there until after they’d injured her. Even after I drove them off, she was already unconscious… and she’s not woken up since.” 

“She’s in a coma?” Tai’s voice sounded as incredulous as his face probably looked.

“Yeah, and it’s my fault too.” The man looked down again, this time pulling out his flask and swigging what was left. “I got sidetracked, lost track of time… by the time I got there, it was too late.”

“Did you at least find the people who did this?”

“Nah, they ran off. I had to take care of the girl and get her to a hospital. By the time I got back and started looking for them, they were in the wind.” Qrow scowled.

“You want some help?” Off Qrow’s hesitant look, Tai continued. “This is one of those things you’re not supposed to be telling me isn’t it?”

Qrow didn’t reply verbally, he just nodded and took a sip of his water.

Silence descended over the table once more, neither man said anything, Qrow starting off into the distance while Tai processed what he’d said.

“I’m sorry.” That was really all the blonde could think of right now.

“You got nothing to be sorry for, it’s not your fault.” Qrow replied. “But, I wouldn’t mind some booze right now, if you really wanna make it up to me.”

“You’ll get water.” Tai said. Qrow made to protest, but a stern glare from the father of two silenced him. He got up, took Qrow’s flask from the man’s outstretched hand and began to fill it up at the sink. It didn’t take too long, and the flask was shortly returned to its owner, who took a hearty sip.

“Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome. So, how are the girls doing at Signal?”

It was a poor attempt to change the subject and they both knew it, but after Qrow’s explanation both men felt like a change in topic was a good idea, so the drunkard humoured his brother-in-law.

“They’re fine. Both getting ahead in their classes and generally kicking ass, which you’d know if you were actually there this week.” Qrow jabbed playfully at Tai’s closest elbow.

“After all the teaching I’ve done there, I’d say I’ve earned my week off.” He fired back.

“Oh sure, sure. Lucky you eh, lazing around here and not having to worry about brats making a mess or acting out in your classes. Ugh, I swear those kids drive me to drink.”

“Those kids in your class could be perfect little angels, and I’m sure you’d find something else to drink about.”

Qrow just smirked and leaned forward.

“Yeah, like all those boys that have tried to ask Firecracker out while you’ve been away.”

“How many?” Tai’s voice had gone unusually soft and quiet, and Qrow knew he had him hooked.

“Oh, probably about… 13 or so.” His smirk was widening by the second. “Some of them were actually pretty dorky about it, gave her a flower or a letter and told her they liked her straight up. They seemed to take it pretty well when she let them down.”

“...what about the  _ other _ boys?” The father asked, his fists tightening on the edge of the table.

“Well, they won’t be trying anything they tried on her the first time after she was done yelling at them, even punched a couple of them through the wall.” Qrow nodded and smiled rather sadistically. “Heh, never realised that one brat could scream so high. Still, Firecracker handled it pretty well.”

“Well, I don’t think a little extra  _ encouragement _ will hurt.” Tai ground out, the temperature around him starting to rise steadily, his normally blue eyes acquiring an orange-yellow hue to them. 

Oh, it would hurt for sure. No one did that to  _ his  _ little Sunflower and got away with it. He’d make absolutely sure they stayed away from her for the foreseeable future, even if he had to-

“Uh, Tai? You’re gonna set the place on fire if you keep that up.” Qrow’s voice snapped him to attention, which caused Tai to notice the small flickers of flame manifesting around his fists. He took a deep breath, then another, then a few more, all while focusing on the day he had with Seline rather than those potential  _ pollinators  _ for his little flower.

The heat and flames vanished almost instantly, the anger clearing quickly from the brawler’s mind. Opening his eyes, he found a wide-eyed Qrow gazing at him. After he took a sip of water, he started again.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you calm down that quickly. Usually when it comes to Yang and boys, I have to hold you back to stop you castrating them. So…” The other man leaned forward and narrowed his crimson eyes inquisitively. “What’s your secret?”

“Excuse me?” Tai tilted his head. “What do you mean my ‘secret’?”

“For how you calmed down so easily, you’ve  _ never  _ calmed down that easily before.”

“Why are you so interested in this Qrow? You’ve never been this into my moods before, you know.” Tai shot a small smirk back at the other man, turning his own words back on him.

“Cos I’m bored and you’re not letting me drink.” Qrow simply returned his friend’s smirk.

“Touche.” 

“Yeah yeah yeah, c’mon, spill.” His brother in law insisted.

Tai sighed, shook his head at his ex-teammate’s antics, opened his mouth…

And promptly shut it again as his scroll began to chime with an incoming call.

“Sorry, gotta take this.” He couldn’t keep the satisfaction from his voice as he pulled the device from his pocket and stood from the table, shuffling into the front room. Qrow just offered him a one-fingered salute in the process.

Looking down at the scroll, Tai smiled quite widely as he saw the caller ID, it was Yang calling him! Well, this was a pleasant surprise indeed. He hit the ‘answer’ button, then pressed the device to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey pops!” Came his elder daughter’s voice through the scroll, just as vibrant and full of pep as he remembered. Well, it had only been a few days since he’d talked to her last, but still!

“Hi there, Sunflower! So, what can your old man do for you, then?”

“Nothing, we just wanted to call you, see how you were doing without us there to spice up your life!” He could almost  _ hear _ the wink or cheeky grin on his Sunflower’s face at that point.

“Oh I’ve been doing just fine by myself, I’ve got Zwei for company, remember? And what do you mean ‘we’?”

“Hi dad!” Came the voice of his younger, more cheerful and perpetually adorable cinnamon roll of a daughter, Ruby Rose. “I’m here too!”

“Hi there, kiddo!” Tai’s already wide smile brightened further, first he meets an interesting and quirky woman and has a nice day out with her, then his little girls decide to call him and catch up?

What a great day this was turning out to be! “So, how are you two doing at Signal, are you being good for your Uncle Qrow?”

“We sure are!” Yang said. “We’ve been as good as gold, no problems here!”

Without missing a beat, Tai addressed his other daughter. “Ruby, are you and Yang being well-behaved girls for your Uncle Qrow?”

“Yep! Yep! Yep!” Ruby insisted happily, before adopting a more thoughtful expression. “Well, except for those times Yang punched those boys through the walls when they tried to ‘cop a feel’, whatever that means.”

“Ruby!” Yang hissed, lilac eyes turning on her traitorous sibling. “That was supposed to be just between you and me!”

“So… what’s this about boys and hands then, Sunflower?” Tai’s smile had started to crack and waver at the edges, all warmth in his tone now replaced with a cold anger.

“Aheheheh, nothing too bad pops.” Yang hurriedly assured him. “Look, some of them just came on way too strong, that’s all.”

“Yang… Qrow already told me about these boys, you know.” Tai could see the panic in his daughter’s face as she said that, which did confuse him a little, why would she be panicking at him knowing? Was that really so bad?

“And I bet he also told you about the fact that I put them through walls for doing that! So they won’t be trying anything again, if they know what’s good for them, so there’s no need to go all ‘Terminator’ on the others, okay?” Yang almost pleaded.

“I wasn’t going to do that.” Tai defended. “Besides, a little intimidation never hurt anyone.”

“Yes it does dad!” Yang burst out, turning her lilac glare on the man. “Because it isn’t just the creeps you scare off with your ‘intimidation’ you know! Remember Chester Auburn?”

“That shy and slightly awkward boy who used to be in your class, but then transferred to another class without telling anyone why?” Tai asked. Off Yang’s nod, he continued. “Yeah, I remember him. Shame I never found out why he left.”

“He… he left because of you, dad.”

“What?” Now that was honestly confusing.

  
  


Look dad, Chester had a crush on me, okay? He told he himself before he left. He was trying to work up the courage to ask me out, but after seeing what you did to that last boy that tried to cop a feel, he was way too scared to even stay in the same class as me! Can you… can you  _ not _ do things like that anymore when you get back, please?” She almost begged.

Tai sighed, thinking back on the last few times he’d caught boys attempting to ‘take liberties’ with his elder daughter, and about how they’d all wound up as the designated ‘training dummy’ in combat class… with him as an opponent.

Maybe he  _ had  _ been a tad overzealous, there. Well, at least he knew why Chester left his class…

Oh dear.

“Alright then.” 

“Dad! I’m serious, you don’t need to- w-what?” Yang’s shock was audible in her tone.

“I said alright, Sunflower.” Tai offered his elder daughter a small and apologetic smile. “You’re right, I guess I have been a tad overprotective, even when you’re old enough to take care of yourself. I suppose it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for me to ‘ease up’ a little bit.” He chuckled.

It might not have been easy for the father to admit that he’d been a little too protective, but the bright and honest smile on Yang’s face made it worth it. “Thanks, pops.”

“You’re welcome. Just, promise me one thing?”

“Yeah, dad?”

“If anyone else tries something with you, put them through the wall again.” He smirked.

Yang’s expression mirrored his own. “Heh, you got it, dad.”

“Oh! Oh! Oh! What about Zwei?!” The previously silent Ruby chose this moment to re-enter the conversation, quite thankfully changing the topic to something a little more welcome in the process. “Have you been feed him properly? Have you been taking him for walks? Have you been playing with him enough?”

Tai could only smile and laugh at his youngest daughter’s inexhaustible energy reserves and seemingly eternal optimism and smiles, especially when it came to Zwei. She loved that corgi so much.

“Yep!” He reported proudly. “Zwei and I had a nice walk around the forest, didn’t we boy?” He hefted the yapping corgi up in his left arm to show to the scroll screen, causing Ruby to light up like a firework.

“ZWEI!!”

“Arf arf arf!!”

Both Tai and Yang chuckled fondly at Ruby and Zwei’s ‘reunion’. The two blondes shared a knowing look as the younger girl continued to interact with the enthused dog.

“Well, it looks like you’ve been taking good care of him, dad!” Ruby said, after she and Zwei were both done.

“Well, he did get lots of exercise today, he even got some combat training in when we helped out Seline in the forest.”

As one, both his daughters’ eyes widened slightly. Ruby’s silver orbs sparkled, while Yang adopted a smirk, a smirk that Tai knew all too well.

_ Oh no, here it comes. _

“Oh wowee dad, you were alone in the forest with a woman…?”

_ There it is. _

“Not like that Yang.” The father insisted gently. “She was just in a spot of trouble with some Grimm, so Zwei and I helped her out.”

“Acting like a knight in shining armor now, pops? Careful, those fair and innocent maidens tend to fall for guys like that, or so I’ve heard.” Yang continued, her smirk growing as Tai just sighed in exasperation.

“She’s hardly a ‘fair maiden’ Yang. She’s a Huntress like me. Besides, she’s probably moved on to another town by now, maybe even one of the kingdoms.” Try as he might, the man couldn’t hide his disappointment at that possibility.

Fortunately, Ruby was there to cheer him up. “Don’t worry dad! I’m sure that, even if you don’t see this lady again, she’ll always remember that time you saved her life!”

“Heh, thanks Ruby.” The beaming smile on the girl’s face in response almost made Tai want to reach out and ruffle her hair with how cute she looked, never mind the fact that he wasn’t in the room with her. Still…

“Hey, Sunflower?”

“Yeah pops?”

“Would you ruffle Ruby’s hair for me?”

Before the younger sibling could speed away with her Semblance, the strong arms of her elder sibling wrapped around her and pinned her in place, one of them holding her while the other began ruffling her red and black locks with gusto.

“YAAAANNG!! DAAAAD!!” Ruby squealed out, struggling and trashing weakly until Yang let her go, both blondes grinning like idiots all the while. Once she’d recovered, she turned both a fierce glare and a harsh snarl on her family.

Well, it might’ve been  _ intended  _ to be fierce and harsh, but given that it was  _ Ruby _ doing the glaring and snarling, it looked about as threatening as a whimpering puppy and her snarl looked far more like a pout.

“Sorry Rubes, but you should really blame pops, he’s the one who put me up to it!” Ruby responded to that defense by battering Yang with her small fists, though the blonde brawler felt nothing more than a barely negligible impact against her chest.

“Hey pops, gonna have to call you back later, she might be like this awhile.” Yang admitted apologetically, though Tai just waved her off.

“Don’t worry about it, Sunflower. Love you both!”

“Love you too pops!” The younger blonde replied.

“Love you dad!” Ruby managed to call out in between her attempts to avenge her sibling’s defilement of her hair. That was all he heard before the call ended. Despite that, a smile was firmly plastered across the father’s face. His little girls were fine, his dog was fine, he was fine… yep, things were really looking up for-

“So, you met a lady in the forest while I was away? And here I thought I was the ladykiller of the bunch.” Turning around with a foreboding feeling, Tai couldn’t help but sigh as he came face to face with the shit-eating grin on his brother in law’s face.

_ Oum, dammit. _


	4. The Second Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem makes plans for the future of both her ongoing war with Ozpin and her new social life.

“And so ma’am, with the next Vytal Festival being held in Vale, it would be an excellent opportunity for our agent to infiltrate the city to seek out the Fall Maiden. No doubt she is being sheltered there.” 

“That is a fine idea, Watts, I trust that yourself and Hazel will be capable of gathering information when the time comes?” Salem asked, raising an eyebrow at her designated technology expert.

“Of course ma’am.” He bowed his head politely. “However, we will need to find a legitimate means to infiltrate our agent, ideally in the guise of a Huntress herself so the authorities don’t look too closely.” 

Hmm, that was an issue to be sure, but perhaps…

“Do not concern yourself with that particular obstacle, I will deal with it.” She assured the man, who tilted his head in a brief moment of curiosity, before nodding in acceptance.

“Very well ma’am, I will start on the plans right away, shall I inform Hazel as well?”

“Yes. You may go now.”

Bowing his head one last time, Watts rose from his seat and shuffled slowly from her inner sanctum, leaving Salem alone. Well, unless the Seer Grimm floating beside her (as it always did) counted as company.

Unlikely, though she could commune with the creature, as she could all Grimm, it was barely interested in anything beyond killing humans. 

Her own servants were no better, Hazel was disinterested in anything unless it involved Ozpin, and bringing him up usually drove the man into a murderous frenzy. Cinder was similarly detached from conversation unless it involved gaining power and strength. Tyrian would likely try his best, if only to please her, but the fanatic was deluded and damaged enough that even the simplest of conversation topics would derail into lengthy poetic diatribes about killing in her name. Watts… well, he wasn’t really as ‘up-to-date’ as she’d like on current events.

Ordinarily, this would not have bothered the Dark Queen too much, why waste time on idle chit-chat when that time could be spent plotting the downfall of her eternal nemesis?

Lately however, Salem had found herself desiring the distraction of conversing with a normal person more and more. And she knew exactly why. It was her brief journey into the wider world of Remnant that was responsible.

Her plan had worked as intended, at least initially. Her boredom-addled psyche had been reinvigorated, she found herself once more capable of planning her future attacks against Ozpin and his supporters, with Cinder’s future infiltration of Vale to sabotage the Vytal Festival being one such operation. 

Salem allowed a small smile at that thought, attacking the Vytal Festival, one of the greatest symbols of Humanity’s unity and co-operation between the Kingdoms in the post-Great War era, would surely generate mass panic and distrust. People would naturally blame Vale’s authorities for failing to prevent the attack, distrust would rise… and the increased negativity would inevitably attract greater numbers of Grimm. 

The chaos would also prove an excellent smokescreen for Cinder to locate and eliminate the weakened Fall Maiden, absorbing the remaining half of her power and allowing her agent access to the Relic of Choice.

And, if all went well, her agent would be able to kill Ozpin in the process. He would return of course, he always did, but he would be diminished and weakened in his new body, more so than he already was. Salem would have ample opportunity to act unmolested as her nemesis rebuilt his powerbase and prepared himself to face her again.

Of course, if Salem’s instincts proved correct, she might even be able to capture his newest host before the merge was complete. Holding her hated enemy prisoner until he died of natural causes was even better than simply killing him, what better way to ensure Ozpin was incapable of acting against her than by keeping him in her custody? Without their precious ‘leader’, Ozpin’s network of agents and supporters would flounder and break apart, leaving them easy prey for her own forces.

Her reinvigorated mental state had brought upon a realisation for the Grimm Queen. In every incarnation of Ozpin’s own network of supporters and agents, there was always a delegated ‘Guardian’, one who would seek out and safeguard Ozpin’s newest host if he ever succumbed to injury or illness in the current cycle. She had seen the pattern repeated many times over the centuries, she would be closing in on the latest man to host her nemesis’ spirit and memories, when he would be whisked away to safety with no explanation.

Well, not until now, that is. And speaking of the current cycle…

If there was anyone Ozpin would select to be his Guardian for his next host, it would be the Headmaster of Haven Academy, Leonardo Lionheart. Salem and her servants had been observing for long enough to know that their bond ran quite deep, they had fought side-by-side against her Grimm for several decades, with Ozpin personally supporting Lionheart’s appointment as Haven’s Headmaster.

The man was indeed a valuable member of her nemesis’ support network, likely the most valuable, he had inevitably foiled many of her plans in the past. Such valiant efforts should be properly acknowledged…

A personal visit would do nicely, especially at his home. It would be easy enough to have Tyrian follow him and find his address, he always did excel at remaining unnoticed by prying eyes when the need arose.

Salem was thankful for the burst of clarity and insight that her plan had provided, though it had come at a price, that price being her newly discovered interest in the outside world. It was a distraction and she knew it, but if satiating her curiosity was what it took to keep herself on track, then perhaps another excursion was called for.

At least she had a destination in mind this time, and a proper location for her arrival. She would rather not be inconvenienced as she was the last time, though it had let her meet Taiyang Xiao Long, so it wasn’t a complete loss…

At the thought of the blonde man, a small smile began to appear on her face as Salem recalled the day she’d spent in his company. Though it might have been two months since that day, she could still recall it almost perfectly, even among the deluge of other memories she had amassed during her millennia of existence.

Yes, her mind was made up, another visit to the island of Patch would be good for her.

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Line Break

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The next morning at the Xiao Long Household, the aforementioned blonde was only just waking up from a surprisingly peaceful night of sleep. Stretching to work out the kinks in his back, he yawned and smiled.

Today was the start of what would hopefully be a lovely week for him, since he’d have the company of his daughters for it. Classes at Signal Academy had broken up for the week, thanks to the teachers needing the time to devise the curriculum for the next few months, giving both Ruby and Yang the chance to Patch and spend time with him and Zwei.

After months of being restricted to intermittent calls thanks to their classes, seeing his little girls in person was a big relief for the father. He couldn’t wait to ask them about how their classes were going, and whether or not Ruby had finally managed to make some friends-

CRASH.

Ah. Well Qrow was up then.

Hauling himself up and out of bed with a sigh, Tai shuffled down the hallway and trudged down the staircase, rubbing the remaining sleep from his eyes all the while. Coming to the bottom of the stairs and the kitchen doorway, Tai was greeted by a sadly familiar sight.

There was his brother-in-law, swaying on his feet, sloppily pouring the remains of his flask into a bowl of cereal. Tai took note of the bowl fragments strewn across the floor, as well as the spilled puddles of alcohol on the tabletop, and struggled to bite back to frustrated growl. Then again, it wasn’t too hard considering he was nearly gagging from the overpowering stench of alcohol emanating from Qrow.

“Morning.” Tai did take a minute amount of pleasure in seeing Qrow jump out of his skin, then slip and fall onto the floor again. Thankfully, his flask and the bowl stayed where they were. The brawler calmly leaned down to haul the man to his feet once more, then moved to begin clearing up the alcohol that had spilled.

No way was he having that near Yang, or Ruby.

“Argh, damn it.” He heard Qrow complain from behind him. “Must be losing my touch, that’s the second time you’ve snuck up on me like that.”

“Either that or you’re hungover from last night again.” Tai observed. When Qrow just grunted out a muffled affirmative, he continued. “Rough day at work?”

“How’d you guess?” The other man asked, finally swinging around to face the blonde.

“Because you always show up here when you have a mission that goes wrong, and you almost always smell like a brewery.” Tai stated as he finished cleaning up the last of the liquor spill. “So… you okay to tell me exactly what happened?”

The Huntsman nodded. “Yeah, just a lead I was following that didn’t pan out. Normally it wouldn’t be too bad but… I’ve spent the past two months tracking these guys down, but now they’ve just  _ vanished. _ I can’t find a trace of the bastards anywhere!” Qrow wound up practically snarling, one of his hands tightening into a fist.

“I see.” Tai said, simply, before switching gears, if only to take Qrow’s mind off his apparent failure. “Qrow… you know your nieces will be visiting today, right?”

“Yeah, ‘course I know that.”

“And you also know that you currently smell like a brewery, right?”

“Yeah…” Qrow grumbled. Noticing Tai’s look, he just grudgingly nodded. “I gotcha, I’ll go clean up.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Tai agreed. “And Qrow… no drinking in front of my nieces, okay? I don’t care how terrible your day or your latest mission has gone, I’m not having you drinking in front of them when I’m around.”

Qrow made to argue that Yang, at the very least, was almost old enough to drink and was likely exposed to alcohol at Signal anyway, until he caught his teammate’s eye. The father’s blue orbs flashed orange, it was brief, but Qrow was still wary.

Even with all his skill in combat, plus the power of his Semblance, he was in no way suicidal enough to try and challenge an angry Taiyang. He’d learned that the hard way during their second year at Beacon.

“... alright.” Qrow relented. “No drinking in front of Firecracker and Ruby, got it. Mind if I use your shower?”

“You go ahead, I’ll head down and meet the girls when they get here.” Tai told him. As Qrow shuffled off to clean himself up, the blonde man began his morning routine, which his brother-in-law had interrupted with his morning antics. First, he laid out some food for Zwei to eat, then set about making his own breakfast.

He decided on something simple, just some scrambled eggs on toast for today. After he was done, he changed from his pajamas to his usual outfit, at least he’d gotten the chance to wash it beforehand. As he was collecting his keys and scroll, a few barks alerted him to the fact that Zwei had finished his own breakfast.

He found the black and white corgi sitting faithfully by the door.

“You want to go and meet the girls, boy?” Tai asked playfully. Zwei barked eagerly in reply.

“Well, alright then.” Turning toward the stairs, the father called to Qrow. “We’re off out, Qrow. Make sure you’re cleaned up by the time we get back alright?”

“Yes, ‘mum’!” The Huntsman yelled back, playful sarcasm coating his voice.

“And if you’re not done by the time I get back, you won’t get any dessert tonight, young man!” Tai let a small smirk cross his face as he played along. He did enjoy the times when Qrow was at least sober enough to properly banter with him, like the old days of team STRQ.

“Well, come on boy.” With that, he unlocked the front door, allowing Zwei to take the lead, the corgi dashing off ahead of him and disappearing from view. This did little to perturb the man, who simply finished locking up before beginning a slow and steady walk towards the Patch’s port settlement.

It took less than two minutes for Zwei to return to his side, the corgi panting a little. Tai smiled down as his faithful pet.

“Had a nice run, boy? Anything I should be worried about out there?”

His reward was one yap, so that was a no. Another smile, Zwei really was man’s best friend. Even better than most dogs since, not only did he have his Aura unlocked, Tai had managed to instill enough of his Hunter training onto the corgi that he instinctively performed his very own perimeter sweep whenever he went for walks. The father set off with his hands in pockets, satisfied that Zwei would warn him if there was anything he needed to deal with en-route.

\-------------

Line Break

\-------------

As they followed the path from his house to the port, the blonde brawler couldn’t help but stretch out his arms and simply take a few deep breaths, savouring the cool morning breeze paired with the warm sunlight. This was why Tai enjoyed his morning walks with Zwei. Not only was it a good source of exercise, it was very calming as well, allowing him to forget any worries he might have, Even if it was only a temporary respite from the issues of the day.

Instinctively, his mind flashed back to a time when he enjoyed those walks with someone else important in his life, how she’d enjoyed the sunlight and the breeze too, the way it ruffled her billowing cloak, the light reflecting off her shining silver orbs all the while… 

Tai frowned, a heavy exhale slipping past his lips as his mood took a dark turn. He tried to keep his thoughts on the fact that he’d be seeing his daughters again, but that simply caused his thoughts to drift to the mothers of those girls. One of them had left him and their baby with nary a word 14 years ago, while the other had vanished on a mission 6 years ago and hadn’t been heard from since.

As much as he’d tried, Tai doubted he would ever fully move on from them. They’d both been two of the most important women in his life for at least 5 years, first because they were his teammates at Beacon and then his lovers and wives, though obviously at separate times.

Then they’d left him. Raven of her own volition, Summer thanks to taking on a mission she’d wound up being unable to handle. Tai’s hands clenched into fists. Sometimes, in darker moments when he was alone, he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d done that deliberately. It was an irrational thought, to be sure, but one his mind could never fully shake off. Was he really such a terrible partner than she’d choose to die just to get away from him?

So absorbed was the blonde father in his dark musings, that he failed to realise two things.

One, being this negative in this grimm-infested forest was probably a bad idea.

Two, Zwei had hurried back to him and was now barking rapidly and in a high-pitched whine, the bark he used to warn his master of danger.

As such he was utterly blindsided, quite literally, by the Ursa that came barrelling out of the forest and right into the man.

Tai cursed as he just barely managed to roll away, avoiding the charging Grimm’s snapping jaws in the process. Another expletive slipped through the brawler’s lips as he assumed a combat stance and realised that he’d failed to bring his gauntlets with him.

Oh well, he’d make do.

Ducking away from the next few swipes of the Ursa’s claws, Tai caught the Grimm’s leading paw the next time they swept past and pulled, feeling the satisfying tear of the appendage being ripped off. Unfortunately, he couldn't capitalise on the opportunity before an impact to his back knocked him to the floor with a grunt of pain, with his Aura absorbing the worst of the impact and damage.

Rolling to the side in time to stop the next paw impact from hitting him head-on, Tai twisted his head to see that a second Ursa had followed its fellow. Stealing a brief glance over at the injured Grimm, the brawler let loose a smile as he saw that it was currently having it’s neck torn out by a snarling Zwei.

_ Good boy. _

Turning his attention to the most immediate threat to his safety, the Grimm began raising both of it’s paws up at the same time, preparing to smash the downed Hunter where he stood. Tai raised his own fists in turn, preparing dodge and counterattack.

At least, that was until the Ursa seized up as a shining blade erupted from its chest. From the briefest of moments, the blonde assumed that Qrow had finished up early and decided to catch up with Tai to meet Ruby and Yang at the port. That assumption lasted until he caught sight of the blade, it was too small and dainty to be Harbinger, resembling a rapier far more than a greatsword.

That triggered a brief realisation in the blonde man, he knew someone who used a rapier…

Much to his surprise and delight, he turned out to be right as the Ursa’s corpse disintegrated, revealing a certain other blue-eyed blonde standing in front of him, one hand on her hip and a small knowing smile on her face.

“Seline!” He called out. “What are you doing here!?”

“Well, I heard the sounds of combat, and thought to lend aid.” She responded, as she offered him a hand to help him to his feet. Tai took it gratefully.

“Thanks, guess I owe you a favour for the save.” He said, only for the woman to wave it off while sheathing her rapier.

“Think nothing of it, Taiyang. If fact, considering our first meeting involved you rescuing me from a rather grisly fate, wouldn't you agree that our debt is settled?” Seline asked.

“So, this is you paying me back for saving your life?” Off her nod, Tai hummed in thought. “Well, alright then. If that’s what you want.”

“Indeed.” A yap caught the other blonde’s attention, and another smile appeared on her face as she caught sight of Zwei, the corgi rushing up to her with a few barks. “Ah, hello there… Zwei, was it?”

The dog yipped in approval.

The father couldn’t keep from smiling wider when Seline bent down to pick up the corgi, though he did avert his eyes for a moment to avoid gazing at her rather shapely form.  _ Stop it! _ He chastised himself.  _ God this is only the second time you’ve met her, so don’t ogle her damn it!  _ At least the moment was suitably cute that he could focus on Zwei nestling into the woman’s arms and a contented whine.

“What am I, boy, chopped liver?” Tai joked, hands on hips. Zwei yipped softly, nestling deeper into the arms (and noticeably, the bosom) of the blonde woman in front of him. “I get it now, the second another good-looking blonde comes along you just latch on to them, is that it?”

While he’d meant it as part of the joke, he missed the way Seline’s cheeks flushed at his description of her.

_ Oh my, I’ve not been complimented like that in… quite some time.  _ That was an understatement, it had been more than several thousand years since anyone had described her like that. Then again… she’d been isolated from virtually everyone during that time, and she was currently disguised. She doubted that Taiyang would describe her like that if he could see what she really looked like.

Of course, since her ‘disguise’ was what she used to look like before her…  _ encounter _ with the essence of destruction, didn’t that mean he found the real her attractive (or at least ‘good-looking’) anyway?

It was a conundrum, to be sure, a conundrum!

The ex-Huntsman, oblivious to the debate the disguised immortal in front of him was having with herself, stepped forward and began to pet Zwei himself. Unfortunately, this meant that when Salem finally stopped arguing with herself and returned to the here-and-now, Tai was suddenly right in her face with his hands  _ dangerously _ close to her bosom.

A soft cry of surprise slipped from her mouth as she stumbled back. Tai’s expression shifted to confusion at her sudden shock, then to slight panic as he noticed that she was about to trip over a branch.

“Hey, watch it!” With the lightning reflexes of a professional Huntsman, Tai surged forward and caught Seline by the arms just as her foot caught on the outstretched branch, managing to both keep her on her feet and keep Zwei in her hands. “Heh, gotcha. That was a close one, huh?”

“Yes, i-indeed it was.” Seline managed to gasp out, still running on a burst of adrenaline after her almost-fall, while also now noticing just how well-built the man in front of her was. The fact that those strong arms were currently holding her up didn’t help, since she got an up-close and personal view of his physique and an experience of his strength. 

The flush on her cheeks grew slightly more intense as her mind instinctively drew parallels between the man in front of her, and another man who’d once caught her the same way, back when she’d been new to the world and he was the only person she’d ever interacted with.

_ “Hey, you alright?” _

_ “Yes, I’m sorry… I wasn’t looking where I was going.” _

_ “No need for an apology Salem, try and be more careful next time, okay?” _

Shaking her head to clear the memory of happier times away, Seline found herself staring into Taiyang’s blue eyes. Even after opening and closing her mouth a few times, she couldn’t find any words. Fortunately, he spoke first.

“You, um… are you alright?” He sounded so concerned for her safety, it felt… nice to have someone concerned for her like that.

“Yes, I believe so. Thank you for your assistance, again.” She managed to reply.

“Don’t worry about it. Though if you really want to thank me, there is something you can do.” 

“Oh?” What sort of repayment would he suggest? She was a little curious, perhaps he would ask for her to accompany him today?

“Well, it just so happens to Signal’s having an off-week, which means that my kids are coming home to spend the week with yours truly!” He proclaimed happily, which surprised her. “And, i was wondering if… well, if you wanted to come along and meet them?”

“O-oh.” Well, this was not what she was expecting AT ALL. He wanted to introduce her to his family? Wasn’t that supposed to be reserved for courtship purposes, to her knowledge you only ever introduced a lover to your family…

_ No. No! Calm yourself, Salem. Times have changed. Perhaps meeting family members is something that can be done for friends and acquaintances as well in this day and age, it might no longer be reserved for courtship. _

“Might I ask why you want me to meet your family?” She asked, quietly, though he still picked up on it. The tanned man rubbed his neck a little sheepishly.

“Well, I don’t really get out much anymore, much less actually meet people. I know my kids are a bit worried that I’m turning into some lonely old man in their absence. So, if I introduce you to them as my new friend, that’ll get them to stop worrying!” He explained, a small and embarrassed smile on his face.

“Ah, I see. So you simply want your children to stop worrying about you, then?” Seline found herself giggling at the absurdity of his request. “And I am to be your designated ‘friend’ for this? Well, I suppose it won’t be too much trouble.”

A short snort of laughter drew her attention. She could see that Tai had a hand over his mouth and was trying not to laugh too hard.

“Is something humorous?” That just caused another snort of laughter to slip through. “What? What is so amusing?”

“That.” He replied. “Just… the way you talk, I mean, you sound like someone out of an old-timey fairy tale!”

“This is the way we always spoke in my household!” She defended. It was true, despite her limited contact with her parents in her youth, she’d been taught to speak by interacting with them, what was so wrong with that?

“Snrk… s-sorry, sorry, but how old fashioned were your parents?” He managed to ask amid another round of suppressed laughs.

“Hmph.” Seline purposefully turned up her nose at him. “Well, if my manner of speech is so  _ amusing _ for you, then perhaps I should find someone else to spend my time with, and you can meet your young ones alone. I’m sure that would do  _ wonders  _ for their perception of you.” She was pleased to see the look of panic on his face. Well, that served him right for making fun of her speech.

“No no no! I’m sorry!” He held his hands out in a placating gesture. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t think the way you talked was funny. Actually, I thought it was quite cute, really!” He desperately rattled off, hoping to soothe her and convince her to come along.

Of course, the ex-Hunter had no idea that he had already placated her when he referred to her speech patterns as ‘cute’. Her blush had returned, with her cheeks feeling hot once again.

_ He thinks my speech… ‘cute’? Is this some attempt at flattery, or his sincere belief?  _

She wasn’t sure which option she’d prefer. Regardless, he’d earnt her help for today.

“I understand.” Seline managed to cut off the man’s latest round of apologies. “I would be happy to accompany you to meet your children.”

“Oh thank you!” Tai replied, visible relief in his voice. “And um… one last thing before we set off.”

“Hmm, yes?”

Tai rubbed the back of his neck. “Are you gonna let Zwei down now, or dare you fine with carrying him all the way to the port?”

“Oh!” This time when her cheeks flushed, it was from embarrassment mixed with surprise. “My apologies.” Seline set the corgi down, giving him one last head pat as she did so. Zwei yipped happily before zipping back to his master’s side. “He was rather comfortable to hold, I must admit.”

It was true, the small ball of fur had felt surprisingly comfortable to hold in her arms, the last time she’d been that content holding something close to her like that, Ozma had been by her side and their little ones had still been alive.

Seline forced down the sudden surge of sadness and anger, knowing that it would be dangerous to leave those emotions festering while in the Grimm-infested forest. With her disguise preventing her from communing with her creatures, the danger applied as much to her as it did to Taiyang.

“Yeah, I get where you’re coming from. Sometimes I can spend hours just cuddling up with the little fireball on the sofa.” The father smiled down at his pet. “Well, shall we, my lady?” He swept a hand in the direction of the port, adding that last part with a cheeky grin on his face.

Hmmm, well, two could play at that game. “Of course, sir knight.” Seline performed an exaggerated curtsey, getting a laugh out of the man. She found herself both giggling along with him and surprised at how easily he could coax genuine laughter and smiles out of her. She had only met and interacted with him twice now, but was already having a more enjoyable time than she’d had in, well… millennia.

As she began to follow Taiyang and Zwei along the path leading to Patch’s port, Seline, or rather Salem, couldn’t help but smile once more.

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The port was bustling with activity, even more so than the last time Seline had visited here. She wondered why the port was more active and cluttered today, but her question was quickly answered when she caught sight of the vertible fleet of Bullheads both entering and departing the airspace around the docks.

It seemed that Taiyang’s daughters were not the only ones eager to return home, judging by the number of people she could see wearing colourful attire and carrying weapons on their person. These must Hunter trainees from Signal Academy. Seline found herself shocked, and rather angry, at how young some of them appeared to be, as well as a sneering a little inwardly at her nemesis once more.

Was he really so desperate that he’d throw children into combat against her creatures? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time he used children against her, would it?

A particularly dark memory reared its head, the image of a robed man with white hair standing in front of four young girls manifesting in her mind. Try and she might, her hands curled into fists and a small growl slipped through her mouth. Why did he have to try and leave her? Why did he try and take their little ones away? Why couldn’t he just  _ understand  _ what it was she was trying to-!?

“Hey, Seline!” The woman was snapped out of her reminiscing by the voice of her current companion. Blinking a few times, Seline refocused to see Taiyang standing in front of her, waving a hand with a concerned expression on his face. “You alright? You spaced out for a moment and started getting angry. Everyone okay?” He asked.

“Yes.” She assured him, offering an apologetic look. “Merely lost in some rather…  _ unpleasant _ memories.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Perhaps, but another time. I would rather not cause any unnecessary discomfort, especially since you are supposed to be having a pleasant reunion with your children today.” Seline explained, hoping that would satisfy him.

Fortunately, Tai accepted her explanation without too much fuss. “Well, I’ll hold you to that, okay? If something’s bothering you, then it’s best to share with friends.”

“I… you consider us friends?” She asked, a little shocked. “Forgive me Taiyang, but this is only our second meeting in as many months, wouldn’t it be rather presumptuous to consider us friends?” At best, they were friendly acquaintances, surely? 

“Well, why wouldn’t we be friends?” The father asked in reply, which legitimately stumped her. “I mean, you’re right that we’ve only met twice, but we’ve been getting along and had fun together the first time, do you really think you’d have that kind of fun with just a stranger?”

“I… suppose not.” The more the disguised witch considered the man’s explanation, the more she found herself agreeing with him. They  _ had _ enjoyed one another’s company the last time and their current meeting hadn’t been too bad so far, but more than that, Seline found surprising enjoyment in the idea of having a ‘friend’.

She’d only ever had servants, people who only followed her because they could benefit from it, or because they were too scared of her to disagree. There might be the occasional true believer, like Tyrian, but even he was far too fanatically devoted to ever disagree with her. Even then, they all simply reminded Seline of her eternal struggle against Ozpin, which was not a pleasant thought. 

With a genuine  _ friend _ , however… she could simply relax and forget her troubles and worries. And while that idea might not have appealed to her at all a few months ago, that was before she’d met Tai and interacted with him. In truth, the disguised woman found herself desiring more of this new existence of hers, to spend more time as ‘Seline’ and experience the simpler things of the world. 

After all, she’d spent thousands of years being ‘Salem’, the Wicked Witch of Remnant and Dark Queen of the Grimm, would it really be so terrible for her to… take a break? Her servants were reliable enough and skilled enough that they could advance her plans on their own, all that was needed was occasional input and guidance from her to direct their energies, and everything would come together.

With this in mind, Seline decided that perhaps an official ‘seal’ to her and Tai’s newfound friendship was necessary.

“Well then, I am pleased to be your friend.” She said, holding out her hand, which the blonde Huntsman enthusiastically took.

“That’s great!” He cried out. “Now my kids will finally have to recognise how good I am with women!” It was an obvious exaggeration and attempt at humor.

Yet Seline found herself giggling into her hand nonetheless.

“Oh my.” She replied. “However will a fair maiden like myself resist such charms?”

“Well, stick close and you’ll find out.” He winked at her. Seline found herself raising an eyebrow and smirking as she replied.

“Perhaps I shall.”

That took him by surprise for a few moments, at least until he rubbed the back of his neck and changed the subject.

“Er, r-right. Well, we should probably find the girls.”

“Very well, I will follow your lead.” The disguised witch fell into line behind the father as the pair resumed their journey through the crowds. The dense packs of people were rather unnerving at first, though Seline was reassured when Taiyang, noticing her discomfort, gently took hold of her arm and began to guide her through the crowds. Thankfully, she didn’t blush again, more used to the strength of his grip.

It didn’t take the pair long to reach the docks themselves, the two adults and one corgi arriving in time to witness another Bullhead touch down at the closest landing pad. As the doors opened and the children began to pour out, Seline noticed that her companion was scanning the group closely, he was likely looking for his own little ones.

“So, do you see them yet?” She asked.

“No, then again, Ruby’s never really done well with large crowds, so they might be waiting near the back.”

“Well, I suppose we will need to wait then.”

“Yeah.” A thoughtful look appeared on the father’s face before he turned to Zwei. “Hey boy, why not give Ruby a call for me?”

The corgi yipped in apparent agreement, before letting loose with a few loud barks.

For the first few moments, nothing happened, and then-

“ZWEI!!!!” A youthful and high-pitched voice called out, managing to make itself heard above the hustle and bustle of the port.

About 5 seconds later, Seline flinched back as what felt like a hurricane blew past her and collided with Tai. The witch swore she could see rose petals around them, if only for a moment or two. Turning, she could see that Tai was currently hugging the small red and black missile as they laughed together.

“Hey dad!” The missile, which Seline could now identify as a young girl, greeted the older man. “Did ya miss me!? Did ya miss me!?” She asked excitedly.

“Of course I missed you pumpkin!” Another hug between Taiyang and his daughter. Seline was rather surprised at how her attire’s colour palette closely resembled the witch’s own robes. 

Well, at least she knew this girl had good taste, if nothing else.

“Aww, what about me pops?” Another, slightly more mature female voice called out from behind them. Turning, Seline raised an eyebrow at seeing a blonde girl making their way over to them, pushing her glasses up on her face to reveal lilac eyes. There was a smile on her face the whole while.

Tai simply held his arm out to her, while hugging the younger girl with his other arm. “I missed you too, Yang. Now how about a hug for your old man?”

The girl, Yang, responded by breaking into a sprint and practically tackling him. The father of two swayed on his feet slightly, but still pulled both girls into a hug nonetheless. All while Zwei and Seline both observed, the former yipping repeatedly while the latter couldn’t help but smile at the happy reunion.

The blond girl was the first to detach from Tai’s embrace, and the first to notice Seline’s presence. She raised an eyebrow for a moment, before a rather sly grin spread across her face and a glint appeared in her eyes.

“Hey pops, why didn’t you tell us you got a girlfriend?”

Both adults’ eyes widened, while the younger girl shrieked out “Dad got a girlfriend!?” Seline was about to start vigorously denying that a romantic connection existed, before Tai’s voice cut through the ambient chatter.

“Yang, she’s not my girlfriend, she’s just my friend who  _ happens _ to be a woman.” The man explained, patiently. Yang simply pouted in response.

“Ah, c’mon pops, I knew that! I was just messing with you, we all know you’re way too dorky to chat up a woman.” She and Tai shared a laugh, before the girl turned back to Seline. “Well, hey there stranger!”

“Oh, hello there. My name is Seline, I suppose you could call me a friend of your father’s.” She stuck out her hand, only to wince a little as Yang gripped it tight and began shaking it vigorously, all with a smile plastered on her face.

“Well, the name’s Yang Xiao Long! Pun master extraordinaire and ace hand-to-hand fighter, at your service!” Mercifully, she released the older woman’s hand, with Seline struggling not to wince at the twinges of pain still present.

“Well… a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She replied, which was met with a poorly-suppressed laugh from the more youthful blonde.

“W-wow. Jeez dad, you find your new pal in a museum or something?” She questioned her father, prompting a raised eyebrow from the witch.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, nobody talks like that anymore!” Yang explained. “Except for the nobles and royal families in all those fantasy films I’ve seen!”

“Well, I do.” Seline folded her arms. “Will that be an issue?”

“Nah, you’re cool.” Yang waved her off breezily, before turning to the other girl. “Hey Rubes, come say hi dad’s new lady pal!”

“Coming!” Not one second later, the younger girl simply  _ appeared  _ right in front of the blonde woman in a red and black blur, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. Ah, she’d not imagined that after all.

“Hi there! I’m Ruby Rose, nice to meet you!” The girl’s hand was smaller, and her grip was softer than that of her sibling.

“And my name is Seline, a pleasure to… meet you…”

Her voice died in her throat. She could vaguely register the girl’s lips moving, but she couldn’t hear what she was saying, in fact almost every sound simply blended together into an indecipherable jumble.

That was mostly because she’d stopped listening. In fact, she’d stopped concentrating altogether.

The only thing she could focus on was the girl in front of her, or rather, her eyes.

  
Her _Silver_ _Eyes._


	5. Meeting the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem meets Ruby and Yang for the first time, while dealing with more complications resulting from her disguise.

She was standing there for what felt like hours from her perspective, but was likely only a few moments to the rest of the world, transfixed by those eyes.

Transfixed by the light behind those eyes… and the memory of that light washing over her, as well as the burning, searing pain that accompanied the light making contact with her body.

That was the only time she’d ever felt like she would genuinely die. It had been a moment of relief for her, in all honesty.

Unfortunately, her mental ‘companion’ most assuredly  _ did not  _ agree with her. The mere sight of the girl, of the light in her eyes, caused the essence to lash out.

Seline shivered and shuddered, her whole body seizing up, as the dark corruption began to crash and tear at the mana locks keeping it contained within her body.

“Ah!” The girl, Ruby, cried out suddenly. Blinking to refocus, Seline realised that her grip had tightened on the girl’s hand all the while. She made to reply, offer an apology, until-

**WIELDER OF LIGHT… DESTROY! KILL!!**

The essence’s snarls and roars rang through her mind, causing the disguised witch to grit her teeth and screw her eyes shut, in a futile attempt to shut out the snarls. Through sheer force of will, Seline managed to force the essence to the back of her mind once more, and made to apologise to the girl once more.

That is, until she caught a glance of the hand currently ensnaring Ruby’s own, just barely managing to suppress a gasp at the sight of it.

The skin was visibly a shade paler than before… and the veins spider webbing it were turning a sickly black.

_ No! NO! Not here! NOT NOW!! _

Quickly glancing at the girl once more, Seline could see only confusion in her youthful face. Well, if she waited any longer, it would quickly be replaced by terror as her true appearance made itself known.

“M-my apologies.” She managed to force out. “I-I require a moment.” Without waiting for Ruby to respond, she quickly released the girl’s hand before turning and fleeing. It was difficult for her to ignore Taiyang calling her name, but the disguised witch squeezed her eyes shut, telling herself that it was for his own good.

Behind her, the two Huntress trainees and one retired Hunter looked on in confusion, though Ruby understandably deflated a little as well. Was her first impression really that bad? Maybe she’d rambled on a bit too much…

“Hey! What’s her problem!?” Yang demanded, the blonde crossing her arms over her chest and frowning. “Why’s she leaving!?”

“I don’t know Yang.” Tai answered honestly. “I really don’t know.” From the time they’d spent together, it was obvious that Seline… had issues, but who didn’t? Still, from the panicked look he’d glimpsed on her face as she’d run off, something was obviously  _ very  _ wrong. He really hoped that it wasn’t anything Ruby did, he really wanted his new friend to get on with his family.

“Hmph.” The younger brawler snorted, her lilac eyes narrowing. “Well, if this lady does have a problem with Ruby…” The lilac in her eyes started bleeding crimson. “Then she’s gonna have a problem with  _ me _ .”

“Yang…” Tai sighed, though privately the father couldn’t help but agree. Even though he liked Seline, Ruby was his little girl, then not liking each other would be a rather large problem. Still, he should probably get Yang to tone down her overprotectiveness a tad, that would only hurt Ruby in the long run.

As much as he wanted to wrap the little cinnamon bun in a blanket and just keep her safe from everything, the father recognised that he couldn’t keep her safe forever. All he could do was prepare her as best she could… then let her make her own way in the world when she was ready. 

Of course, if Ruby or Yang ever did need his help, he would be there. He would always be there for his family, no matter where they were or hot far from home they’d gone.

At the same time as the blonde dragon was making his promise, the witch had finally found a deserted alleyway to hunker down in, clutching at her head with shaking hands. A brief glance a nearby window confirmed her fears, her azure eyes were beginning to burn a malevolent crimson, while the tainted veins were slowly crawling their way up her neck.

It was attempting to shed her disguise by force, in the middle of a crowded settlement. That way she wouldn’t have a choice, she’d have to either leave and travel far away from the Silver-Eyed girl… or kill everyone here, which would get rid of the girl as well.

But it would be inevitable that Taiyang would be caught in the crossfire, there was no way around that.

That was…  _ unacceptable. _

The entity in her mind was still raging on and on, snarling and roaring, but Seline was in no mood to listen to it anymore. It was trying to ruin  _ her _ day of freedom?  _ HERE and NOW? _

NO.

**Kill the Light! Dest-**

  1. _SILENT!_ She interrupted the essence’s snarl with a shout of her own. _This is MY body you inhabit, and this life was mine long before you arrived! You will NOT interfere, not now!_



Silence.

_ Do you understand!? _

Yet more silence. Of course, she was attempting to communicate with an embodiment of destruction, a purer form even than the Grimm themselves. She must be quite delusional to expect an-

**I… understand.**

What? 

It had never communicated like that before, usually it only repeated the same ‘kill/destroy’ mantra over and over again whenever it was agitated.

_ You… you do?  _ She replied, hesitantly.

**Yes. This existence… is yours. We have… no right… to interfere.** The voice was strained, with long pauses in accompanying every couple of words. This must be quite the effort.

_ Well, I am glad we could reach an accord, though you sound strained. Why is that? _ She needed to know, to sate her curiosity. 

**Coherent thought… is difficult. We were not… created to think… created to destroy.** Came the reply.

_ Yet you do so now. _

**Our influence… is limited. We are sealed… diminished. Our essence… can coalesce freely… within this confinement.**

_ My sealing you away to disguise myself is responsible for your ability to communicate? That is… I had not thought you capable of communication until now. _

**We were occupied… merging with… our host.**

_ You mean ME. _

**Yes.**

_ This ‘merging’ cannot have taken thousands of years, surely? _

**No… but communication… was only possible… with the sealing. The corruption… dispersed our consciousness… coherent speech… was not possible. Acted only… according to… our instinct… to destroy.**

_ I-I see.  _ Seline bit her lip, looking around nervously, just in case anyone caught her.  _ Well, this has been most informative, but you CANNOT interfere anymore today, I want your assurance. _

**Possible… but condition… must be met.**

Seline considered this for a moment, before sighing mentally.  _ Name your price. _

**As long as the Bearer of Light… remains ignorant of our presence… we will not interfere.** It was the longest coherent sentence the essence had dared string together since they’d started talking, the strain in the entity’s ‘voice’ was even more noticeable now. This must be depleting its strength quite badly.

In all honesty that was fine with Seline, a weakened essence meant a co-operative essence, or a submissive essence, whichever would inconvenience her less. Hopefully it would take some time for the entity to recover.

_ Very well, they are unaware of my true identity. Though that may change if you insist on another attempt at transforming me AGAINST MY WILL ONCE AGAIN.  _ Seline growled, unable to keep her anger out of her mental voice this time.

**Understood. You should return… the humans… may be suspicious.** The entity advised.

Unfortunately, this simply angered Seline further.

_ Well, they would not be suspicious AT ALL had you not interfered! _

Without allowing the entity time to reply, the blonde woman stormed from the alley, intending to find Taiyang and apologise for her abrupt departure, as well as assure his younger daughter that she was not at fault.

A quick glance at the nearby mirror confirmed that the tainted veins had receded, her eyes were blue once more and her skin’s rosy pink colour had returned. Seline blew out a shaky breath, that had been a close call. Hopefully she wouldn’t have any more today.

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“Hey, Seline! There you are!” She turned in time to see Taiyang making his way over to her, his daughters in tow. She couldn’t help but swallow and take a breath, just trying to prepare herself. What could she say to try and defend herself?

Well, there wasn’t any time left now.

“Ah, hello again, Taiyang.” Seline greeted him, a little nervously, her mind still preoccupied with thinking up a convenient excuse. “I… apologise for departing so suddenly, that was rather rude of me.”

“Tch, you  _ think _ ?!” The lilac-eyed blonde girl, Yang, snorted out, her arms crossed in front of her and a scowl on her face. “What’s your problem-!?” She began hotly, only for her father to cut her off.

“Yang!” Tai turned to give her a stern glare. “That’s enough.” The girl made to protest, but the man’s renewed glare pinned her in place.

“Um, miss Seline?” Her attention was drawn to the younger girl, Ruby, as she stepped forward to look at her. Seline could feel the entity in her mind shiver and recoil at the sight of her Silver Eyes, but at least it wasn’t roaring and snarling and trying to kill her this time, so that was progress.

“Yes, child?” 

“Um, I’m sorry if I scared you off or something.” The young girl began, twisting at the hem of her black skirt in the process, she was clearly quite nervous. It was clear that this ‘Ruby’ did not deal well with meeting new people, a fact that Seline could relate to from her own younger years.

Even if they were whole millennia ago.

“It’s just that I get so nervous when meeting new people and I tend to ramble on and on about my hobbies and interests, which is pretty much just weapons, so I might come off a bit too eager and I’m really sorry and-” A hand was gently but firmly placed over her mouth, just to stop her before she could really get going.

“There is no need for an explanation, young Ruby.” The blonde witch insisted, smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “In truth, I feel that I must apologise for my abrupt departure… it was rather rude, and I hope you will not hold it against me.” She removed her hand from the girl’s mouth, awaiting her reply.

“O-oh, I wasn’t expecting you to apologise to me… meep.” The girl blushed and played with her skirt a little more, biting her lip as a downright adorable squeak came from her mouth. For a brief moment, the witch instead saw her youngest little one in Ruby’s place, she had always been rather shy and awkward about meeting new people.

For the first time in lifetimes, her long-frozen heart thawed just a little at the adorable scene before her.

“Might I assume that meeting new people is rather-” Seline paused a moment, searching for the right word. “-stressful for you?” Off Ruby’s hesitant nod, the blonde witch actually chuckled a little before speaking up again. “Well, then I suppose you and I are alike in that regard, meeting you and your sister was a rather stressful moment for me, I must admit.”

“Really?” Ruby asked, silver eyes gleaming as she gazed up at the older woman. It took all of her willpower not to flinch away at the way they seemed to sparkle… seemed to  _ glow. _ “Sooo, I guess we’re just as socially-awkward as each other?”

“Yes, I suppose we are.” Seline found herself agreeing. “Well, perhaps a reintroduction is in order?”

“YEAH! I uh, I mean okay, sure.” Ruby’s enthusiasm was quite endearing, in all honesty. “I’m Ruby! Ruby Rose!” She stuck out her hand.

“Well, hello there Ruby Rose. My name is Seline Luna, I am a recent friend of your father’s.” Seline met the girl’s hand with her own. It was a pleasant moment for both of them… 

And then Yang decided to ruin it.

“Aaaww!!” The younger brawler cooed, lunging forward to wrap her younger sibling in an affectionate headlock, with accompanying noogie. “Look at that, my little sis finally found a friend who’s just as socially awkward as her! It’s a miracle!”

“YAAANG!!” Ruby squealed, squirming and thrashing in Yang’s iron grip, with little success. “You’re embarrassing meeee!” The pre-teen reaper whined, though this simply inspired Yang to coo even louder about how her sister was ‘cute as a button’ and noogie her a little more.

Both Seline and Tai observed the cute scene with smiles on their faces, both adults struggling to hide laughs. The father sidled up to his friend, casting a glance her way.

“So, are you really okay?” He asked, still concerned at her sudden departure. “You vanished pretty quickly back there.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I think I will be fine, Tai.” She gave the man a small reassuring smile. “I was simply a little… overwhelmed is all, though that is still no excuse.”

Tai just patted her on the shoulder, a smile of his own ready for her. “Hey, it all worked out in the end, right? I’m… actually pretty glad that you and Ruby could patch things up so easily, she could really use more friends, even if you’re not exactly her age.” He chuckled at that.

_ Oh, if only you knew how old I truly was.  _ She let her own small laugh out alongside Tai’s own. “Well, if the introductions are finished with, perhaps we should depart?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Girls!” He called on his daughters, both of whom stopped what they were doing (with Yang releasing Ruby in the process, and the girl proceeding to rub her head vigorously) to stare at their father. “Qrow’s waiting back at the house for us! Have you got any bags?”

“Yep! I’ll get them now!” Yang replied, bounding off toward the still-docked Bullhead. She returned a half-minute later, with two heavy-looking suitcases in her grip. The disguised witch was rather amazed that she could hold that much, but soon remembered that she likely had access to Aura. Still, it seemed to be taking some visible effort on her part.

“Here, let me take that for you.” Tai simply took the suitcases from his daughter, hefting them over his shoulders. Unlike his daughter, the man didn’t seem to be putting any effort into it whatsoever. “Right then, are we all ready?”

“Yep!” Both Yang and Ruby chorused, the younger girl clutching Zwei in her hands, the elder with her hands on her hips and smile on her face.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.” Seline affirmed, folding her arms over her chest.

“Well then let’s go, home awaits!” The man swept a hand in the direction of his house in an exaggerated motion, both his daughters and the witch giggling at his goofy antics. Nevertheless, all three followed as he cut a path through the crowds, striding purposefully in the direction of his home.

As they began to leave the port settlement behind, the entity in Seline’s mind had one last comment to make.

**Humans… strange creatures.**

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Thankfully, there were no Grimm attacks or other surprises on the journey to Taiyang’s house. The man himself led the way, suitcases still slung over his shoulders, with Yang striding along beside him and chatting animatedly with her father.

From what Seline could pick up, she was discussing her performance in combat class, and she was doing rather well it seemed.

Regardless, that left the witch herself to bring up the rear alongside Ruby, the girl occupying herself by playing with Zwei. The corgi was remarkably well-trained, fetching anything the young girl threw for him on command.

It was honestly rather endearing to watch, and brought a smile to the witch’s face. Unfortunately, that smile was rather strained by the…  _ intense _ reaction of the Grimm entity in her mind. As it turned out, the high concentration of positive emotion that accompanied a loving father reuniting with his equally loving daughters was something it found  _ physically repulsive. _

And of course, she was the only one on the receiving end of the entity’s following pained snarls and growls. It was rather tiring listening to it after the first minute or so.

To distract herself, the witch decided to strike up a conversation with Ruby instead.

“Ehm… might I have a moment of your time, young Ruby?” Thankfully, Ruby swung round to face her with a smile.

“Sure thing miss Luna!” The girl chirped. “What’s up?”

“Well, I wonder if we might get to know one another better?” Seline asked, hopefully. “It seems that you and I share a certain… awkwardness, around others. With that in mind, I thought that we might both benefit from interacting with one another.”

“So… you want to talk to me so we can both get better at talking with other people?” Ruby tilted her head cutely.

“That was the idea, yes.” She confirmed.

“Sure, that’d be great!” The girl cried out excitedly, before holding a hand up. “To the socially awkward!” She exclaimed, clearly expecting the woman in front of her to respond.

“Erm, yes indeed.” The witch reached out her hand… and shook Ruby’s own gingerly in reply.

The gaping look of shock and disbelief on the young reaper’s face was utterly priceless, priceless enough for Yang to snap a photo on her scroll, the elder sibling intended to treasure it forever. Even Tai was partly amused and partly shocked that they’d managed to find someone  _ even more awkward _ than his little Ruby.

Well, at least they were getting along. That was the important part.

“R-right then!” Ruby stuttered out, managing to recover. “So… where should we start?”

Seline hummed in thought, clicking her tongue a few times and glancing around. “Well, you mentioned something about an affinity for weapons? Perhaps we should start there?”

In an instant, Yang’s eyes widened, while Ruby’s eyes snapped open and her jaw dropped open. The pre-teen aspiring Huntress seemed to visibly  _ vibrate  _ with excitement as she reached for a blocky red and black object she kept at her back.

“So… I got this thing!” With that, she proceeded to unfurl a scythe larger than her whole body in one smooth motion.

“My goodness!” The disguised witch jumped and clutched at her chest in shock, taking a moment to catch her breath. “That is  _ quite  _ a sizable scythe, I can scarcely imagine how you even hold it properly, let alone wield it with any level of efficiency.”

“It’s also a customisable, high-impact sniper rifle!” The girl exclaimed, hefting the ridiculously large weapon in her hands once more.

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s also a gun.” Ruby explained, pulling the trigger on the side once to demonstrate. That turned out to be a rather bad idea, since the weapon’s report was accompanied by the reaper being thrown about five feet backward. “Waaahh!!”

CRASH.

“I-I’m okay! Totally okay!” The girl cried out shakily as she wobbled to her feet. Her sister and father simply rolled their eyes and shared a look, while Seline waited, hands on hips and eyebrow quirked, for the girl to trudge back over. “S-so… what do you think?”

“Well, it’s certainly an impressive tool.” She began.

**Grimm… do not require… such crutches.**

The Grimm entity’s comment was rather abrupt, but the witch kept her composure as she continued. “It seems you have some difficulty with the ranged form, however.”

“Yeah, but that’s just because I forgot to anchor it!” Ruby twirled her weapon around and slammed the blade into the ground. When she next pulled the trigger, the weapon shook but remained in place, as did the girl operating it. “See? It works perfectly now!”

“I can see that.” Seline commented. “You have a lot of pride in your scythe, I see.”

“Of course I do! Crescent Rose is my baby!” As the aforementioned scythe compacted back into its block form, Ruby hugged it tightly. “I built it and maintain it all by myself!” She smiled happily up at the older woman.

“I see. That is quite an accomplishment, young Ruby. You have every right to feel proud of your efforts.” The cloaked girl blushed at the praise, whimpering a little and pulling her hood over her head.

“Uhh… so what’s your weapon!?” It was an obvious change of topic, but the witch obliged her.

“Here it is.” With a flourish, Seline withdrew her rapier from the scabbard, twirling it in her hand a few times. In the two months between her visits, the woman was not ashamed to admit that she had gotten in some practice here and there, not wanting to be caught off-guard as she was the first time. 

Her Grimm had made for excellent training dummies, with only a command from her necessary to make them attack their own queen, with no regard for their own lives. It had been a rather… enjoyable experience. Not only did it help calm the bloodlust of the entity inhabiting her mind, but the experience of fighting without magic was a curiously exhilarating one.

The feeling of crushing your opponent personally and up close was one the Grimm Queen could get used to, that rush that accompanied every victory. After all, what better way to prove her superiority over these pathetic facsimiles of Humanity than by beating them with the weapons and Dust they relied on so much? Add in the fact that she could not wield Aura and would not be using her magic and that simply added to the humiliation her opponents would feel as Salem crushed them.

She was unable to stop a savage grin from making its way across her face as she imagined her hated nemesis, beaten and broken before her. In chains, his Aura gone, his current host maimed beyond repair, forced to acknowledge Salem’s superiority and the futility of opposing her once and for all.

What better way to ensure his misguided faith in these fools was crushed completely, than by crushing it personally? Clearly, her servants were not sufficient for the task. Thousands of years of shadow warfare had taught her that. Perhaps it was time for her to take matters into her own hands once more. Perhaps-

“Miss Luna?” The disguised witch was drawn from her thoughts by Ruby’s voice. Blinking a couple of times to refocus, she saw the young girl staring up at her with concern in her eyes. “Are you okay? You kinda spaced out a bit… then you got this weird look on your face.”

“Oh!” A faint blush crept up her cheeks as she realised that she’d been spacing out in the middle of a conversation, how embarrassing. “M-my apologies, I was simply… distracted. What were you saying?”

“Oh, I was just asking what else your weapon does!” Ruby said.

“Well… it slashes, stabs, slices and eviscerates.” Seline explained, performing the corresponding motions for the girl to see. “The rapier is more than sufficient to dispatch most Grimm.”

Ruby fidgeted a little bit before replying, with a curious edge in her voice. “Um… is that all it does?”

“I beg your pardon?” The blonde woman tilted her head in confusion.

“I just mean, doesn’t it transform or something, or have a gun in the hilt?” Ruby asked.

“No, it is simply a rapier.”

Her next words came without her thinking. “Huh, isn’t that a bit dull?”

That made the disguised witch bristle indignantly. “Despite your  _ misgivings _ young Ruby, I assure you my weapon is  _ more  _ than sufficient for self-defense.” She growled. “Just because my rapier lacks an alternate form and does not incorporate a  _ gun _ , does  _ not  _ mean it isn’t a perfectly sound choice for a weapon.”

The girl shrank back a little at the ice in the older woman’s voice and the glare of her blue eyes. “I-I’m sorry! It’s just that I'm so used to everyone having mecha-shift weapons, like all my friends at Signal do, that I wasn’t thinking-”

“It’s… quite alright.” The older woman cut her off with a wave of her hand. “I apologise for being defensive, but you critiquing my weapon like that… it was rather insensitive.” She levelled a stern stare at the girl in front of her, arms folded across her chest.

“Sorry.” Ruby mumbled. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Very well, but please think before you speak next time.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Ruby nodded, before lowering her voice nervously. “So… are we okay?”

A pause. Then Seline offered Ruby her hand.

“Yes, I believe we are.” The 12 year old eagerly shook her hand in response.

“Hey, you two!” Both of them turned in the direction of the shout, only to find both Yang and Tai a short ways ahead of them, standing at the end of the path they’d followed and in front of a large wooden house.

This must be the Xiao-Long household. As she and Ruby approached, with the girl zooming ahead in a flurry of rose petals, Seline couldn’t help but be reminded of the shack she’d been living in after her  _ exposure _ to the essence of destruction. At least, before Ozma had found her again. 

It looked like a quaint and comfortable dwelling, all things considered, a perfect place to raise a family with love and care. The same love and care that she’d been denied as a child. Still, she shouldn’t let her own darker thoughts ruin any enjoyment she might derive from witnessing the antics and interactions of a proper family.

“Hey, Seline!” Looking over, she found that Tai was calling to her. “You know you’re welcome to stay with us for the night, right? Unless you’ve got somewhere to be?”

“No, I think I can spare a night, assuming your children are okay with that?” She asked, she’d hate to intrude where she wasn’t wanted.

“Nah, you’re cool!” Yang called back.

“We can talk about weapons some more and play with Zwei, he seems to like you!” Ruby cried, with considerably more enthusiasm.

“Well, guess that settles it.” The elder brawler turned back to his new friend, a smile on his face.

“I suppose it does.” Squaring her shoulders, the witch took a deep breath before following Taiyang into his house.


	6. Surprising New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem experiences modern comforts for the first time in a long while, iteracts with Ruby and Yang a little more and finally names the presence in her head.

The instant she stepped across the threshold and into Taiyang’s house, the witch was rather glad for the fortifying breath she had taken moments ago, since she was hit square in the face with a chokingly overpowering smell.

It was bad enough that she began to cough and cover her mouth and nose. This quickly drew Tai’s attention, since the blonde came over and hurried her back out of the house. He stayed beside her, patting the woman on the back as he continued to hack and cough for a full 30 seconds.

“Are you alright?” He asked, once Seline finally stopped coughing and looked up at him with tears of irritation in her eyes.

“Wh… wh-what was t-that?” She managed to rasp out. “It was incredibly potent!”

“That.” Tai growled out, a look of disappointment crossing his face. “Was my irresponsible brother-in-law acting like himself. Which means that not only did he  _ not _ have that shower and clean himself up, like I  _ asked _ him to, he spent the last few hours drinking again.”

Seline practically choked as her eyes bulged, that was the stench of  _ alcohol!? _ It was closer to an arcane poison than anything else. If she could weaponise that, she’d have no need for  _ Grimm _ in her war against Ozpin, let alone servants!

**Interesting… there is potential.** The Grimm entity (she really needed to find a name for her ‘passenger’ soon enough) spoke up once more.

“Would you give me a few minutes, please?” With that, Tai strode back into the house, leaving the blonde woman alone on his doorstep. Within seconds, she heard the father barking out. “Yang! Make sure your uncle cleans himself up this time! Ruby, we need to do something about this stench, it reeks in here!”

After a few minutes of awkward standing outside while clattering sounds filled the house, Seline was finally greeted by Tai as he strode out of the door again, this time a tired smile on his face.

“I’m really sorry about that, we’ve not managed to get rid of the smell entirely, but hopefully you should be able to breathe properly now.” He assured her, sweeping a hand toward his house.

Taking a few tentative steps across the front door once more, Seline took a sniff of the air and was pleased when she didn’t immediately start coughing again. There was still a definite hint of that alcoholic smell tinging the air, but it was nowhere near as choking as it used to be.

Making sure to observe common courtesy by taking off her shoes and leaving them by the door, Seline made her way into what she realised was the front room, taking a seat on the sofa when prompted by Tai.

“So, uh… while the girls are busy, can I get you anything?” The father asked.

**Bring us…weakling humans…for the slaughter.**

“A glass of water will be sufficient, thank you.” Seline replied, ignoring the entity on her head entirely.

“Alright! One glass of water coming right up.” Tai said as he made his way over to the kitchen area, leaving the blonde alone with her thoughts.

**Why not… ask for… humans to slaughter?** Well, not  _ quite _ alone.

_ Because asking for ‘humans to slaughter’ is in no way an appropriate question for a setting such as this! _ Seline snapped back.

**Understood.**

The witch sighed, she could tell that this was likely to become a regular occurrence in her life, what with the entity’s complete and utter lack of knowledge about anything that wasn’t Grimm related. Hopefully not  _ too _ regular though.

‘The entity’, that was  _ far  _ too generic a name for such a unique creature. She would need a new name for it, or perhaps she could simply… ask the creature for its name.

Did it even have one? Well, only one way to find out.

_ Creature, I have a question for you. _

**Yes?**

_ What is your name? _

**I… do not understand.**

_ What are you called? What was the name given to you at your creation? _

**I… do not have… a name. I… did not exist… until merging… with you.**

_ Ah. I see… you only gained intelligence and a proper consciousness from our union. Well then, perhaps I might give you a name? Given that I am essentially your ‘progenitor’, for lack of a better term, it is only fair. _

There were a few moments of silence, both in the house and in Seline’s mind, and then...

**Very well… choose my name.**

Well, now that she had the being’s approval, all that was left was to think of a name. But what name was suitable for something that desired only death and destruction? 

Well, ‘mortis’ was another term for death. Perhaps…

_ Moriy. Is that acceptable for a name?  _ The witch asked.

**Moriy… this is acceptable.** The entity, newly-christened Moriy, responded.

_ Very well, that shall be your name from now on. _

Before Moriy could respond, Tai returned with a glass of water in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other hand. He set the glass down in front of his guest before taking a seat on the sofa with the tea, at a respectable distance, he was a gentleman after all.

“Well, there you go, you sure you don’t want anything else?” He asked.

“I am fine for now.” Seline assured him. “If I do get hungry later, I will make sure you are aware.” She took a sip of her water before speaking again. “If I might ask, where are your daughters?”

“Well, they’re making sure that my brother-in-law cleans himself up.” Tai admitted, a small scowl crossing his features. “I can’t believe he didn’t even make himself presentable for you showing up.” His palm met his face with a loud smack, before he pinched his nose and sighed.

**His disappointment… is delicious.** Moriy commented. Was he actually  _ feeding _ on it right now?!

“It sounds as if this is not the first time he has disappointed you.” Seline observed, Tai must be truly exasperated for his negativity to be strong enough for Moriy to actively feed on. Just how much of a disappointment was this man?

“No. No it isn’t.” Tai growled. “And it won’t be the last time either. Look, I apologise in advance for… well, just about  _ anything _ he might do, including hit on you.”

“‘Hit on me’?” The other blonde tilted her head in confusion. “Why would he possibly try to hit me?”

“Hehehe.” That actually coaxed a chuckle out of the tanned man. “No, it’s just an expression Seline. It means he might try and seduce you.”

The witch rather quickly felt her face heat up at that, a scandalised gasp slipping through her mouth as her eyes widened. Would this man truly be so brazen as to try to… to  _ court _ her? So openly and in front of his family? Even though this would be their very first meeting!? Oh my…

“I-isn’t that rather presumptuous of him!?” Seline was rather embarrassed at the way her voice had jumped about two octaves. “I-I mean, I know that you and I are friends, but would he honestly try to… to seduce me?”

“I don’t know.” Tai said. “He might be serious, or he might be doing it just to irritate me. But the important thing is, if you feel uncomfortable with it at any point, then you just tell me okay? I’ll make sure he cuts it out. You’re our guest, so I’m not going to let Qrow’s antics ruin your time here.”

“Thank you, Taiyang.” Seline smiled at him. “The world needs more gentlemen like you, I think.”

This got a blush out of the man, who rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “Heh, well don’t mention it, I’m just being a good friend is all.”

“I would disagree.” The witch insisted. “Some might tell me to simply ‘put up’ with their family member’s lecherous acts, but not you. That is something to be admired.”

“Well, thanks.” Tai mumbled, giving the other blonde an embarrassed smile. “Just trying to be a good host, since you’re in my house.”

“Well, you are doing a fine job thus far.” Seline took another sip of water. “If you continue to behave like this, I will definitely be impressed.”

Before Tai could respond, Ruby came barrelling down the stairs in a shower of rose petals, Zwei clutched firmly in her hands. “Hi dad! Hi miss Luna!”

“Hey there, Petal.” Tai greeted her. “Something up?”

“Well, Yang’s making sure uncle Qrow sobers up, she says he’ll be ready in a few minutes, and I came down here to see what you guys were talking about!” The little reaper explained. “So… what where you guys talking about?”

Tai opened his mouth, but Seline beat him to it. “I was simply complimenting your father for his kindness as a host thus far.”

“Aaaawww! See, I knew you just needed to get out there, dad!” Ruby cried out, setting Zwei down and bounding over to them. “Yang was worried that you were becoming some sort of shut-in, but I told her ‘nuh-uh, he just needs to get out and meet someone to be friends with!’ and I was right, see!”

Both adults were stunned by the girl’s innocently blunt admissions. Seline found herself feeling a little irritated at Yang’s lack of belief in her father, he seemed to be a perfectly kind and sociable man, did she really think so little of his ability to socialise with and befriend others? 

Tai, on the other hand, felt rather embarrassed once again. Even his daughters thought he needed to get out there and meet someone… well, at least he’d done that now! He’d made a perfectly nice friend, so they couldn’t complain anymore.

Wow… he sounded rather immature when he thought like that, didn’t he?

“Well, I am glad that you at least have faith in your father, young Ruby.” Seline managed to say, after processing her statement for a good few moments. “Your elder sibling could learn from your example.”

Ruby practically beamed and hopped in place at the praise, pumping her fist with a triumphant grin blossoming on her face.

“Yes! I told Yang, I told her! Ha ha ha, take that sis!” She cheered.

“Oh I get it, one little victory and suddenly you think you’re hot stuff, eh Rubes?” Came Yang’s amused voice from the stairs, the younger blonde skipping down them at least two at a time. “Don’t forget that I’m the big sister still, in more ways that one.” She patted the younger girl on the head and ruffled her hair as she spoke.

“Yang!” Ruby squeaked. “I’m not that young, and I won’t be this short for long. I drink milk!” The little reaper pouted and folded her arms, in a gesture adorable enough that Seline needed to block out Moriy’s disgusted snarls before answering her.

“Well, milk is an important part of a balanced diet, but growth requires more than that. What else do you enjoy eating?” She asked.

_ “ _ Cookies.”  Ruby mumbled.

“What was that?” Seline tilted her head, leaning forward a little to try and hear better.

“Cookies. I like cookies… but that’s not all, I eat strawberries too! They’re my favourite food, actually!” The girl cried.

Both Yang and Tai smiled and shook their heads at Ruby’s attempt to defend herself. Seline simply sighed.

“Well, while strawberries are an excellent fruit to eat, I must ask about your cookies… how many do you usually eat per day?” The blonde questioned.

“Um… not many, miss Luna.” Ruby muttered.

“Ruby.” Seline’s blue eyes narrowed and her lips thinned into a firm line, her tone unconsciously shifting into that of a stern parent. “I would like the truth, please.”

“A… a few dozen.” The girl admitted.

“Well, there is your problem.” The witch said. “You need a fully balanced diet if you hope to catch up to your sibling.” 

Seeing Ruby’s hesitance and hearing her disappointed whine stirred a memory within her mind, a memory of when her second youngest was refusing to eat her vegetables. Without thinking, she began following her past self’s solution.

“I understand your frustration, you would rather eat the things you enjoy, wouldn’t you?” Off Ruby’s nod, the older blonde continued. “Well, would you rather remain comfortable with your current diet, or would you rather take that step and begin catching up to your sibling? That way, you truly will grow up into a healthy and strong young lady, perhaps you might become the ‘big sister’ with enough dedication, hmm?”

“Really?” Ruby asked, silver orbs shining. “You promise that I can grow up big and strong like Yang is, miss Luna?”

“Yes, I give my word.” She responded to Ruby’s honestly endearing smile with a smile of her own, ignoring Moriy’s renewed noises of disgust. “And as distasteful as it might sound, it would be best for you to start now.”

Ruby’s smile dissolved into a pout and a disappointed whine once more. “Do I have to?”

“No, you do not. But beginning now will give you a leg up in the future, so to speak.” Seline explained. “The longer you wait, the more your motivation to change will dwindle, and the harder it will be for you to begin eating healthily. Do you understand?”

“Yes, miss Luna.” Ruby nodded. She glanced between her cookies and the other people in the room for a full minute, biting her lip and screwing her eyes up in frustration as she struggled to come to a decision. Finally, she took a breath and turned to her father.

“Um… dad?”

“Yes, Ruby?” Tai asked, smiling down at his youngest.

“Can you… can you give me more vegetables for tea tonight, and maybe hide my cookies so I can’t snack on them?” She asked quietly. Tai and Yang’s jaws promptly hit the floor, both blondes gaping in shock at the little reaper, opening and closing their mouths a few times while trying to reply. Seline on the other hand simply nodded triumphantly before taking another sip of water, at least until she realised what she’d been doing. Her triumph turned into embarrassment and confusion as she realised how easily she had slipped into mothering the younger girl without even intending to. 

All it took was Ruby acting similarly to one of her own little ones for the witch to start treating her similarly. It was almost disturbing just how different she was acting in her disguise. Had someone told her that she, the Queen of the Grimm and Wicked Witch of Remnant, would be admonishing someone else’s child and lecturing her into changing her diet, she would have laughed at their sheer audacity in suggesting such a thing.

Yet, here she was, having just convinced her new friend’s youngest daughter to try and eat more healthily.

**You are… truly strange.**

For once, she could not help but wholeheartedly agree with Moriy’s observation.

As Ruby hopped up and dashed off, apparently to go and fetch herself and Yang some drinks of their own, Seline cleared her throat.

“M-my apologies for the interference, I did not mean to impose the way I did, but-” She was cut off as Tai held up his hand, a shocked look still on his face as the older brawler turned to face her.

“One question.”

“Y-yes?” Here it came, he was likely going to ask her what she was thinking imposing like that, or asking what gave her the right to act like a parent to his younger daughter. She had overstepped her bounds, the witch thought with a wince, now Tai was going to ask her to leave and-

“Can you teach me to do that?”

What?

“I-I beg your pardon?”

“Can you show me how to do that?” Tai repeated his question, a rather awestruck look on his face. “Look, I’ve been trying to get Ruby to eat more fruit and vegetables and cut down on her cookie intake for years…  _ years,  _ then you come along and seem to solve that problem with  _ one  _ talk. Please, just tell me how you managed that.” The father continued, a hint of begging in his voice.

“Oh.” Well, this might be a little difficult to explain, at least without revealing some… uncomfortable information she would rather keep private. “Well, I… have some prior experience with caring for children.” 

“Well, I can tell.” Tai agreed. “Would you mind if I ask where?”

At this, the witch’s expression collapsed, memories of that fateful night with Ozma and her children surfacing in her mind. She screwed up her eyes and clenched her fists in an effort to stop her rising anger, but even then her hands shook and her teeth ground together. Damn that man, damn him for his lack of courage and commitment to their plan of unity, damn him for poisoning their children against her and DAMN HIM FOR-

A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her increasingly dark and bloodthirsty train of thought. Opening her eyes (which thankfully were still blue) Seline found herself staring at the concerned face of Taiyang Xiao Long.

“Hey, are you okay? You looked like you were getting angry for a moment there.”

“No.” She admitted quietly, meeting his gaze. “I was reliving some rather unpleasant memories.”

“Are they about your experience with children?” The father of two asked, prompting the witch to nod in affirmation. Surprisingly, the man gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Alright, I’m sorry for asking about something that upset you, I won’t bring it up again.”

“Thank you.” She replied, the ghost of an appreciative smile crossing her face. She brought up her own hand to pat the older brawler’s own. “I would appreciate that very much.”

“You’re welcome.” Tai met her small smile with one of his own. “Seems like we’ve both got baggage, eh?” He joked, in an effort to lighten the mood somewhat.

He managed a coax a slightly more genuine smile out of the other blonde, Seline offering a small laugh. “Yes… don’t we all?”

“Yeah. And I know you might not feel comfortable with it right now, but… if you ever need someone to talk to, well… I’ll offer you a shoulder to lean on if you need it.” Tai offered. Even without magic, even without her skill at reading people, Seline could tell that he was being entirely genuine, that he really did want to help.

“Thank you, Taiyang.” She whispered, genuine appreciation in her voice this time. It had been a long time since she’d met someone quite so willing to help her, especially since this was only the second time they’d even met and he’d already invited her to spend time getting to know his family.

“Don’t mention it, you’re a friend, I’m happy to help.” He answered, his gaze never wavering from hers.

Both adults stayed that way for a good minute, the disguised witch finding a surprising level of comfort in the fact that there was someone who genuinely wanted to help her, despite not knowing her too well. Tai, on the other hand, was concerned for his friend and wanted to offer whatever support he could. He could see that the other blonde had deep-rooted issues regarding children in her past, he hoped that she would eventually open up to him about it, if not someone else.

It was a tender moment of support and understanding between the two… that was promptly ruined when another voice spoke up.

“Wow, you sure work fast, don’t you?” A rather deep voice spoke up, a teasing note clearly present.

In a flash, Tai’s hand shot off Seline’s shoulder and the two practically shoved each other to the opposite ends of the sofa. Tai turned to face the newcomer with an exasperated look on his face.

“Qrow… why can’t you introduce yourself like a normal person for once?”

“What?” The other voice spoke up. “Wasn’t that normal enough for ya?”

“No. No it wasn’t. I told you already that we’re not dating or anything, she’s just a friend.” Tai insisted.

“If you say so, aren’t you gonna introduce me to your ‘not-girlfriend’ then?” By now, Seline had recovered from her shock and turned to face the other man. She could see that Ruby and Yang were both standing nearby, the younger girl having long since come back with cups of juice for them.

What drew her attention was the man himself. He had slicked back dark hair and crimson eyes, he was wearing a white and grey button-up shirt paired with dark trousers and fancy shoes. The ensemble was completed with a small silver cross hanging from his neck on a chain, as well as a signet ring on right hand’s forefinger.

What had Taiyang called him again? Qrow?

Qrow… that name seemed so familiar to her, and not in a good way either. Something about his name put her on edge, but for all her millennia the witch could not discern what it was.

As it turned out, Seline was not the only one on edge at Qrow’s appearance, inside her mind Moriy bristled and growled. The Grimm was practically radiating hostility, but before the woman could question it, Qrow’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.

“Heh, see somethin you like?” He asked cheekily, despite Tai’s glare and Yang’s raised eyebrow.

“Ah, apologies for my staring, I was simply lost in thought.” Seline replied, before holding out her hand. “I am Seline Luna, a friend of your brother-in-law’s.”

“Heh, well hey there, you can just call me Qrow, Qrow Branwen.” Qrow replied, reaching for her hand.

At the mention of his name, Seline finally realised why exactly she had been so wary of Qrow. It wasn’t that he was a Huntsman, that was obvious from his apparel.

It was that he was Ozpin’s agent. 

Not just  _ an _ agent, the same agent whom had foiled Cinder’s attack on the Fall Maiden months ago, forcing her to retreat with only half the Maiden’s powers in her possession.

And now he was standing right in front of her.

However, any reaction she may have had to this new information was drowned out by her mental companion’s reaction to the handshake. The instant their hands made contact, a screech of pain and rage erupted in Seline’s mind, and it took all of the witch’s self-control to suppress the wince of pain at Moriy’s loud snarls echoing and rattling around in her head.

“Well, hello Qrow.” She managed to reply, forcing her companion’s pained snarls to the back of her mind. “I must admit, I have not been told much about you.”

“Well, that’s not surprising.” Qrow released her hand and stepped back, taking a moment to smooth his hair and practically pose a little before continuing. “Tai’s always reluctant to tell any of his lady friends about a sexier man than him.”

Seline was about to scowl at him for that remark, in her opinion, it was a little arrogant and presumptuous of him to automatically assume he was ‘sexier’ that Tai was, until she realised that this was likely his brand of humor. She thus managed to muster up a smile and a small laugh in reply.

“Well, I can understand why, who could resist such roguish charm?” Yes, best to play along with him, give him no reason to be suspicious. She did  _ not  _ need one of Ozpin’s lackeys suspicious of her alternate persona, any unwanted attention might jeopardize her plans for Vale and her efforts to have Cinder acquire the Fall Maiden’s remaining power, along with the Relic of Choice from Beacon Academy.

Not to mention that Qrow would likely inform Taiyang of his suspicions, destroying the first genuine friendship she’d been able to form in thousands of years.

That was  _ not  _ a risk she was willing to accept.

“Heh, finally. Someone who gets it.” Qrow offered her a wink, Tai just sighed and rolled his eyes, while Ruby and Yang were giggling to themselves.

“Alright then.” Tai decided to interject. “Now that we’ve all met each other, what are we going to do about tea? Are we all alright with a roast dinner, with all the trimmings of course?”

“Yeah!” The girls both cried out, excitedly.

“Sounds good Tai.” Qrow licked his lips.

“That sounds lovely.” Seline agreed.

“Alrighty!” Tai clapped his hands together, a smile on his face. “Well, it’s probably gonna take some time to get everything ready…” Thinking for a moment, he turned to Ruby and Yang. “Girls, maybe you can entertain our guest until everything’s ready?”

“You got it, pops!” Yang saluted.

“Come on miss Luna!” Ruby cried, grabbing the startled blonde by the wrist and starting to lead her upstairs. “I can show you all my previous designs for my baby, and you can play with Zwei as well!”

Yang only threw the older woman a pitying look and mouthed out ‘just go with it’ as they passed her by, the brawler following her younger sister up the stairs with a smile on her face. Qrow just chuckled, took a sip from his flask and observed “Heh, well it’s nice seeing the brats tormenting someone else other than me for a change.”

“Well, seeing as you’re not busy, you can help with tea then.” Before Qrow could protest that cooking was not his forte, he found his own wrist seized by Tai, who dragged the other man into the kitchen.

Qrow just huffed, resigned to his fate.

\-------------

Line Break

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A couple of hours later and tea was almost ready. Despite a few mishaps in the kitchen (all of them Qrow’s doing) the two men had managed to cook a full roast dinner with all the trimmings. 

As Qrow was plating everything up, Tai decided to retrieve his daughters and guest from their seclusion in Ruby’s room. As he approached the door, he was frozen briefly as a piercing shriek rang out from inside the room.

Acting quickly, the father practically shouldered the door open. “Girls! I heard a scream, what’s-!?” He was cut off as he actually saw inside the room.

There were Ruby and Yang, very much unharmed, sitting on Ruby’s bed. Both of them were covering their mouths and trying to suppress snorts of laughter. At the other end of the room was Seline herself, the woman gripping a scroll with trembling hands, her face twisted into an expression equal parts frustration and rage. 

Tai was honestly surprised she wasn’t foaming at the mouth, given the bloodthirsty look on her face.

“Uh, girls?” Ruby and Yang finally noticed his presence. “What’s going on here?” Before they could answer, Seline’s voice cut across the room once more.

“Damn you!! I DEMAND YOU ALLOW ME TO ACCESS THESE SPELLS!!” The blonde woman snarled at the scroll’s screen.

“She’s playing a game.” Yang clarified, after her father shot her a questioning look once again. “Rubes introduced her to an RPG she was having trouble with, turns out your lady friend’s quite the gamer at heart.” Another high-pitched growl of anger interrupted her. “But uh… once she started levelling up her character, she just started losing her mind.”

“Uh, okay.” Tai just nodded along. “Any… any reason  _ why _ ?”

“The magic part of the combat system is, according to her, ‘utterly useless’.” Yang threw up her hands in air quotes.

“Because it IS!” Seline snarled out, tearing her gaze away from the scroll to stare intently at all three other people in the room. “This… this game restricts me to learning new spells and improving the potency of my existing arsenal through allocation of ‘skill points’, rather than through reading the relevant spellbooks, as it  _ should be done! _ ” The woman seethed. “And do  _ not  _ talk to me about their ‘mana gauge’ system, that is NOT how mana works AT ALL!! Imbeciles… FOOLS!”

“Hey, it’s only a game, you know?” Tai assured her. “No need to get so worked up over it.”

After a few moments of heavy breathing and scowling at the scroll, Seline finally sighed and breathed out a calming breath. “I… you are quite right. I was… simply getting invested in the game, is all.”

“Well, I guess that just proves you like it, right?” The older brawler assured her.

“Yes, I suppose it does.” The witch smiled up at him. “Was there any reason for your visit?”

“Well, I just came up here to tell you that dinner’s read-” A hurricane of rose petals blew past them and out of the door before he could even finish speaking, Ruby must be hungry.

“Ah, alright. Allow me to clean up first and I will join you when ready.” Seline strode out of the room next, leaving Yang and Tai to follow along behind her.

“Hey pops.” Tai glanced over at his eldest. “You should really bring miss Luna around more often, she’s a real riot. Doesn’t hurt that her and Rubes get along quite well, I can’t believe you managed to find someone more dorky than little sis.”

“I can’t quite believe it either… but I’m glad you like her.”

“Heh, you’re damn right, but what about you pops? Do  _ you  _ like her?” Tai narrowed his eyes oh so slightly, his years of dealing with her letting him pick up the telltale note of teasing in his Sunflower’s voice.

“Well, of course I do, she’s my friend.”

“C’mon pops, you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “I know you like her, but do you  _ like  _ her?”

To the girl’s frustration, her dad kept walking right on without giving her an answer. Well, that was fine, she had all week to pry one out of him!

With a new well of fiery determination burning in her chest, Yang followed her dad downstairs to the kitchen, a spring in her step.


	7. A Late Night Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following a verbal blunder from Qrow at dinner, Salem, guided by her mental companion to a source of anguish, ventures out at night to find a missing Taiyang.

**Bitterness… anger… resentment.**

It was Moriy’s guttural voice reverberating in her skull that woke Salem from her otherwise blissful sleep. Shaking her head and rubbing her eyes, the woman found herself in unfamiliar surroundings.

_This is not my chamber, where am I?_

It took a moment for her still-sluggish mind to catch up and her memories to reassert themselves, but they came quickly after that.

She had been visiting the island of Patch in disguise once more, this time accompanying her friend Taiyang to his reunion with his daughters, Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. The witch could not suppress a shiver at the memory of the girl’s Silver Eyes, while Moriy practically recoiled within her mind.

Still, they had gotten on surprisingly well, as it turned out. Once Salem had gotten over her weariness regarding the girl’s eyes, they had found a surprisingly strong foundation with which to forge a bond, what with their shared awkwardness in social situations prompting a ‘practice’ conversation between the two of them.

What was even more surprising for the woman was how easily she had slipped into a parental role for Ruby, even if it was only for a few moments, regarding the girl’s less than balanced diet of milk, cookies and strawberries. She reached up to wipe away a stray tear as the memory of her own little one, the same memory that had prompted her to advise Ruby to adopt a change to her lifestyle, surfaced once more in her mind.

_Do not think about them. As dearly as I wish they were still here… they are long gone, and they will not be coming back._

Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists at the surge of anger the memory prompted, anger at her hated former spouse for attempting to steal their little ones away from her, Salem continued sifting through her memories.

She had also met Taiyang’s brother in law, Qrow Branwen, a man who turned out to be one of her nemesis’ primary agents, the same agent who had frustrated her own servant’s attack on the current Fall Maiden. That had made her wary, but thousands of years of experience in fighting this shadow war allowed her to deceive him well enough. She doubted he thought of her as anything other than Taiyang’s female friend.

And if she was careful enough, that was all she would ever be in his eyes.

Still, now that she thought about it, there was a question lingering in her mind, regarding her mental companion’s reaction to physical contact with Qrow.

_Moriy?_

**Yes?** Came ‘his’ reply.

_I have a question for you, regarding your reaction to Taiyang’s brother in law. When I shook his hand, you reacted as if you were in pain. Why would you react like that?_

**This ‘Qrow’... his Soul is saturated… with chaos energy.**

_‘Chaos energy’? Explain._

**This energy… governs negative consequences… in other words… misfortune. This energy… is repellant… to my brethren.** Moriy explained, which surprised Salem quite a bit, how could this Grimm entity know something like that? Especially considering that it had spent the past few millennia as a slave to its baser instincts. 

_How could you possibly know this? This knowledge did not come from me._

**No… but chaos energy… comes from the Destroyer.**

_‘The Destroyer’?_ Her eyes widened as the name suddenly clicked. _You… you mean the Dark God?_

**Yes. When the Destroyer… warred with the Creator… chaos energy was a part of his attempt to tear down the Creator’s work. He caused misfortune and chaos… to blight the land… and the Creator’s work… withered and died.**

_I… had no idea. I merely assumed he created diseases, famine, drought and the Grimm during his feud with the Light God._ Salem replied, still slightly in shock at this new information.

**Those disasters… needed a conduit. The chaos energy… carried them… across the land. You may call them… natural disasters… but they… are the work… of the Destroyer.**

_I see… that still does not explain your aversion to it. I would imagine the energy would augment your kind, if anything. You were both created by the same entity, after all._

**Chaos energy… binds to… the soul. My brethren… do not possess souls, so the energy… saturates our forms. With enough energy… this saturation becomes fatal.**

_I see. Well, if humans can drown in water…_ Salem admitted. _I suppose this explains your negative reaction to physical contact with Qrow. Though how would this ‘chaos energy’ have bound itself to his soul?_

**I do not know.**

In Salem’s mind it must be related to his Semblance, the other ability that these current generation humans have access to alongside Aura, though it was ultimately a pathetic substitute for real magic. Perhaps his Semblance was related to misfortune? It would explain his name, crows were considered harbingers of misfortune, after all.

Well, at least that explained Moriy’s reaction to Qrow, but not why he started acting up now.

_Well, thank you for explaining your previous reaction for me, though that does not explain why I have awoken to you rambling about negative emotions once more._

**I can sense it… there is negativity… nearby.**

_And why would you interrupt my rest to inform me of this? Surely you can suppress your urges for a few more hours?_ Salem half-demanded, rather irritated at being so rudely awoken by her mental companion. A quick glance at her scroll confirmed that, rather than it being early morning, it was still near-midnight, prompting an exasperated growl to slip through her lips. _Well?! Explain yourself!_

However, her irritation and anger began to dissolve rather rapidly at Moriy’s answer.

**The source… his soul is familiar… I believe you… would call him ‘friend’.**

What? As far as the Dark Queen was aware, the only male friend she had made on the island was-

Oh no.

Sitting bolt upright in her bed, her body rapidly shaking off any lingering sluggishness, Salem blinked rapidly to adjust her eyes to the darkness. Using her scroll to light the way, the immortal witch slipped out of her bed. After a swift check in the nearby mirror to confirm that her disguise was holding steady, Salem eased her way out of the room.

It took her longer than expected to reach the front door. But that was to be expected, since her lack of magic prevented her from simply teleporting directly out of the house, or casting a silencing spell to stop everyone else from hearing her footsteps.

As she reached the front room, Salem was forced to gag as the smell of liquor wafted past her nostrils. Looking into the front room, she saw Qrow snoring on the sofa, a flask clutched firmly in his left hand and a line of drool coating his mouth. The witch barely bothered to conceal her contempt for the man’s alcoholism, he dared to drink like this when there were _children_ in the same house?

What a disgrace.

As quietly as she dared, Salem put on her shoes, eased the door open and slipped outside, the chill night air hitting her square in the face as she did so. After closing the door behind her, she began to make her way forward and away from the house.

Of course, it did not take long at all for Salem to realise that she had no idea where to go next. If he was out of the house, where would Taiyang be at this time of night? More to the point, why would he feel the need to leave, and what was the cause of the negativity Moriy was sensing?

Surely it wasn’t something she had done? The thought that she might have had a hand in his worsened mood was… surprisingly distressing for the witch.

Taking a seat on a nearby tree stump, Salem delved into her memories from last night, trying to figure out exactly what the trigger might have been. It did not take long for her to come up with an answer.

Tea had been a relatively enjoyable affair, in all honesty. To see a family sitting down together, discussing the latest goings-on in their members’ lives and accompanied by playful teasing where needed, Salem was not ashamed to admit it had warmed even her dark heart. For all the times the two girls had squabbled, and for all the times the family’s members had teased one another, it was clear that they truly loved and cared for one another.

If only Ozma had loved her and their children the same way… 

_No. Don’t think about him right now. Your friend is suffering, he must be your priority now._

Except, Taiyang wasn’t truly her friend, was he? He was _Seline’s_ friend, not hers. All his concern and kindness was for her disguise, for the mask she wore to interact with people like him. What would he say if he could see her, if he could see Salem rather than Seline?

Would he be horrified? Would he be angry at her for her lies? Would he fear her? Whatever friendship they might have had would be ruined, that was for sure.

Blinking back tears, Salem took a few fortifying breaths, attempting to gather herself.

She was no better than the Gods at this point. Just as they lied to Ozma to convince him to act on their behalf, here she was lying to someone just to maintain some illusion of friendship with him. Did she really deserve to be the one to help Tai when he needed it?

No. No she didn’t.

But then again, if she wasn’t going to help him, who would? That drunkard brother-in-law of his?

Besides, even if their friendship was built on a lie, Tai was still her friend. If he was in need of help, then it was her duty to provide, no matter her reservations or hesitance. 

Forcing her own feelings to the side, Salem focused once more on her memories of last night, trying to understand what exactly might have provoked the senior Xiao-Long.

Oh. Of _course…_

It had been the drunkard’s fault. Of course it had been. The man had quickly gotten himself utterly inebriated before the main course was finished. Salem could barely choke back a snarl of disgust at the memory of that wretch, belching and drinking as he did, especially with his nieces sitting not five feet from him. From the looks the witch had observed on their faces, it was clear they were used to this behaviour.

That simply made him more disgusting, if anything. Children should _not_ have to put up with that sort of despicable behaviour from familial figures.

The drunkard’s inebriation had been reasonably harmless though… at least, until the dessert course was finished. The discussion had turned to the subject of Taiyang’s new friend, herself (or rather ‘Seline’). 

Ruby and Yang had been supportive of her friendship with their father, the younger blonde was happy that she had found ‘fresh meat’, which Ruby had clarified to mean ‘teasing materiel’. She had simply taken it in stride, it was all in good fun. The younger girl had simply been happy to find someone as socially inexperienced as her, with whom she could discuss her hobbies without fear of ridicule. Salem was inclined to agree, in all honesty.

That inebriated uncle of theirs, on the other hand, had something else to say about her. 

“I-I’m proud of ya Tai… finding a lady as dorky and nerdy as you are. Who knows… t-this one might even s-stick around.”

The previously warm and gentle atmosphere had iced over completely at that remark. Ruby had been shocked, staring wide-eyed at the man, not quite believing he had said that. Yang’s reaction had lent more on the aggressive side, the girl’s face twisted into a disapproving scowl, and the witch had been surprised to see her lilac eyes bleed into a fiery red.

Perhaps the most telling reaction had been Taiyang’s, he had frozen completely for a few moments, he had seemed torn between shock and insulted anger. Salem could have sworn that his blue eyes had turned orange and slitted for the briefest of moments before he asked Qrow to leave the table. 

To any other person, he might have sounded calm, but Salem had seen differently. After so many thousands of years of conflict with Ozpin, she had grown experienced in not only suppressing her own anger when needed, but recognising when others were suppressing it as well. One look at Taiyang had told her all she needed to know, he had been incredibly angry at that moment, with repeated flashes of bitterness and resentment passing over his features as well.

She had tried to reach out to him, after the children had vacated the table and left them alone, but he had brushed her off, reassuring her that he was fine. Clearly, he was not fine. Not if he was willing to leave his house in the middle of the night to try and cope with his anger.

Well, clearly she had not tried hard enough last time. Tai needed help, so she would provide. And if he refused? Well, she would simply persist until he gave in.

With this new purpose clear in her mind, Salem rose from the tree stump. Closing her eyes, she called out to the Grimm in her mind.

_Moriy, can you still sense negative emotions nearby?_

**Yes.**

_I ask that you direct me to the source, is that possible?_

**It is.**

Unsheathing her rapier from its scabbard, Salem strode into the forest, with Moriy’s voice guiding her path.

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It did not take long for Moriy’s directions to become wholly redundant. The sounds of combat and the roars of various breeds of her Grimm proved to be far better at directing Salem to where she needed to go.

By the time she arrived in the clearing, however, the sounds of combat had all but died away. Of course, the destruction left behind was more than enough to guide the witch by that point, she only needed to follow the lingering flames and telltale piles of black dust to reach Tai. She was privately impressed with his combat abilities, the sheer amount of inky black dust littering the clearing suggested dozens of Grimm had been here.

The sheer number of destroyed trees and smashed rocks gave her pause, this level of destruction did not bode well for Taiyang’s mood, or indeed her own chances of calming him. If worse came to worst and she was forced to defend herself, she had only her rapier. Without even an active Aura to supplement her physical capabilities, she doubted it would be anywhere near enough to fend off the enraged man, especially since she had barely a month’s worth of total experience with it.

Of course, even if injury and death were no longer hindrances to her anymore, it would be rather difficult explaining her resurrection to Taiyang. 

_Best not to focus on what could go wrong, focus on what you can do right._

With this in mind, Salem forged ahead once more, passing smaller amounts of debris as she continued on. That at least was a good sign, it must mean that Tai had managed to calm himself a little.

After a minute or so of following the trail once more, she found him.

The man was kneeling down in the middle of a rather large crater, with his back to her. Small flames were licking at the edges of the crater, while the corpse of an Alpha Beowolf was disintegrating a few feet from where Taiyang was kneeling, its skull rather graphically caved in.

Taking a steadying breath, Salem began to approach. Even as she drew closer, the father did not seem to notice her, his hunched form barely moving. That was rather concerning.

“Taiyang?”

He seemed to jolt as her voice reached him, slowly twisting around to face her. Despite the only light coming from the shattered moon above, Salem could still make out what seemed to be tear tracks running down his cheeks, as well as the inflammation around his eyes.

So, it was clear that he was upset enough to be driven to tears. That alone told her that Tai was in need of help.

“O-oh, Seline.” She heard a slight sniffle as he took a breath, not encouraging. “What are you doing out here?”

“That would be a more appropriate question for you, I think.” She replied, sheathing her rapier and folding her arms. “In answer to _your_ question, I came searching for you. When I awoke in the middle of the night, I couldn’t find you anywhere, I was concerned.” The witch explained.

“Oh, I see.” Tai said quietly. “Well, you don’t really need to worry about-”

“Actually, I believe I do.” Salem cut him off. “You are out here alone, in the middle of the night, away from your family members. And to find you I needed to follow a trail of devastation, including many destroyed trees and rocks, accompanied by dozens of slain Grimm. With all that in mind, I feel that I _do,_ in fact, need to worry about you.”

Tai started at the firm tone of her voice, clearly unused to someone being so forceful. Salem narrowed her eyes at his indecisiveness, waiting for him to either capitulate and admit his problem or try to deny he had one again. If he tried the latter, she would simply press the issue until he gave in.

If there was one lesson the Grimm Queen had taken from leading various cabals of her servants, it was that any personal issue or personality defect needed to be dealt with as swiftly as possible. Ignoring them would likely negatively impact their performance in the field, and at worst even cause them to question her orders when they conflicted with that servant’s personal goals. 

The first example that came to Salem’s mind was the girl Cinder, while her focus on strengthening herself made her loyal the witch’s cause, her habit of flaunting that strength over others she deemed ‘weak’ was an issue that needed addressing. Soon. The girl had denied she had such an issue, of course, but Salem was no fool, the defect was clear as day to her.

Thankfully, Taiyang proved to be more intelligent than Cinder. His tired and defeated sight brought the disguised woman back to the present. Meeting her gaze with one of his own, Tai slowly picked himself up and gestured for her to follow him.

After a minute or two of walking, he father of two stopped and sat himself down on a fallen tree, with Salem taking a seat next to him, waiting patiently for her friend to begin his tale.

“So… I suppose you’re wondering what I’m doing out here, killing Gimm in the forest in the middle of the night, huh?” He began.

“The thought had crossed my mind, yes.” She offered what she hoped was a comforting smile.

However, her concern only grew when Taiyang lapsed into silence again, swallowing a few times as his blue eyes seemed to shine with suppressed tears. She needed to do something, and being forceful would simply not do here.

“Taiyang.” She tried again, adopting a softer and quieter register this time. “I understand that discussing this might be… difficult for you, and that I might not be the best person to tell about your personal issues, but please do not suppress these feelings. It would be far better to confront the issue now, rather than let it fester and leave you bitter and angry later on, do you think your children would enjoy seeing their father that way?”

That last bit must have struck a chord within the man at her side, since he visibly flinched at her words. However, he still refused to talk, despite the witch waiting another few minutes. Sighing to herself, Salem made to leave, it was clear her presence was not appreciated.

“Very well, perhaps one of your children can convince you-”

“Wait.”

Looking back, Salem found Tai now staring at her, one of his hands partly stretched out as if to stop her from leaving. “Wait… um, can you just sit back down, please?”

“Very well.” Re-taking her seat, the witch folded her hands in her lap, her blue eyes meeting Tai’s own.

“Alright, so… where should I start?” Tai asked her.

“Perhaps with the reason behind your reaction to that… rather strange comment by your brother-in-law.”

Tai stiffened once more at those words, but thankfully it was only for a moment, as after a few steadying breaths he seemed ready to talk once more.

“Alright. Well, when Qrow made that comment about… about you staying, he was talking about my first marriage.”

He had been married more than once? No matter, that was a question for another time. “I… continue, please.”

“Her name was Raven Branwen, and as you might have guessed from her name, she’s Qrow’s sister… and for about a year, she was my first wife.” Tai explained, a few tears already welling up in his eyes.

“I see. I take it from your reaction that this marriage did not end well?”

“No… no it didn’t.”

“Is this ‘Raven’ no longer among the living?” Salem asked, carefully.

“Oh she’s uh… she’s still alive. Honestly, I could have handled her dying. Maybe not _well_ , but it would’ve been better than her leaving me.”

What?

WHAT?

“She… abandoned you?” The witch whispered, her own eyes going wide.

“Yep.” Tai said simply, bluntly. “A few days after Yang was born, actually. I just woke up one morning and… she wasn’t there anymore. I looked for her, tried to find her, but she just upped and vanished without a trace.”

“I… I _see._ ” Salem didn’t say anything else, not trusting herself to keep her steadily rising fury out of her voice any longer. The parallels to her own past with Ozma were not lost on her in the slightest, except that this Raven woman had managed to do to Taiyang what Ozma had attempted to do with her.

Except, it wasn’t exactly like her own marriage, was it? In her case, Ozma had attempted to steal away with their young children, while Raven had abandoned her husband when their child was but an infant. No doubt Tai had been devastated by her flight, yet was forced to care for his child all the same.

“Do you… do you know why she would do this?” Salem managed to ask, her voice now shaking with barely suppressed rage.

“No. I don’t.” Tai admitted. “But it probably has something to do with that tribe of hers, the one her and Qrow originally came from. He still keeps in touch with her, you know? Turns out she decided that going back to Anima and becoming leader of a group of people who kill and steal from others was more important to her than raising a family with me.” 

He laughed at that, it was a dark and humourless thing indeed, as if he were laughing at himself rather than at anyone else.

By now, the disguised immortal beside him was _beyond_ angry. So, Raven was willing to throw away the chance to build a life and family with a kind-hearted man like Taiyang in exchange for assuming leadership over a group of thieving wastrels?

That was… that was _despicable._ It was utterly REPULSIVE. How DARE that ignorant, selfish, pathetic excuse for a human being think that some backwater bandit was in ANY way the correct choice over the chance of forging a life with the man beside her! 

Thankfully, Tai himself was too engrossed in his depressing reflections to pay attention to the woman seated next to him, which was just as well. Had he bothered to spare her even a cursory glance, he would have cried out in shock.

The immortal witch’s currently blue eyes were bleeding red and her skin was slowly turning deathly pale, while also becoming spiderwebbed with reddish-black veins as her anger began to boil over. The sheer intensity of her rage was wearing at the mana locks sealing Moriy away, while also feeding his own strength, leaving the Grimm entity free to begin corrupting his host once more.

Salem herself, on the other hand, was far too engrossed in increasingly violent and contemptuous lines of thought surrounding one Raven Branwen to care about the knowledge that her disguise was failing.

_I cannot BELIEVE her nerve! What was this heartless wretch thinking when she abandoned Taiyang, was she even thinking at all!? Was she gripped by MADNESS!?! Had I been in her shoes, it is obvious which choice I would-_

Her thoughts, and the accompanying anger, ground to a halt almost instantly. Where… where had _that_ thought come from?

Salem would have given it further thought, but Taiyang had finally began speaking again.

"Hey, Seline. Sometimes I think about… what I could’ve done to make her stay, about what I might’ve done to drive her away. Was I… was I really that bad of a partner-"

"Stop, right now.” She cut him off immediately, her voice steely and firm as the man twisted to stare at her in surprise. Thankfully, her disguise was firmly in place once more. 

"What do you-" He began, only for Salem to interrupt him once more.

"Listen to me, Taiyang. It was not your fault. You... you are a good man. The fault lies with that spineless... _disgusting_ ….. WEAKLING for walking away, for being too afraid of committing to building a life with you. I will not have you disparaging yourself over imagined faults in your character, is that CLEAR?" The witch demanded, her azure orbs flashing as she spoke.

"...….yeah. Yeah it is." The ex-Huntsman admitted, offering her a smile.

"Good."

While she was glad she had managed to improve Taiyang’s mood, the witch still felt unsatisfied… but why? Perhaps… perhaps it was time for her to share some of her own past? To confide in Taiyang, as he had in her?

“Taiyang?”

“Yeah?”

“I… understand your situation, perhaps more than most.” She admitted.

“What do you mean?” Tai asked, before his eyes widened as he realised what she was getting at. “Wait, you… you mean-”

“Yes. I was married myself, with a loving husband and children as well. At least, he loved me to begin with.” The witch closed her eyes, taking a few deep shaky breaths, already feeling her bitterness and anger beginning to well up again.

“What happened?” Was all her companion asked.

“We argued, that is what happened. We… both wanted the same thing, but disagreed on how to achieve it. And eventually… he left.” Now, Salem could no longer stop a few angry tears from leaking out. “There was no note, no apology, no attempt to try and talk to me about our issues… he simply stole away with our children in the middle of the night.”

A somber silence descended over the clearing, the ex-Huntsman taking in this new information his companion had revealed, while Salem herself tried to push back the hot, angry tears welling in her eyes. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d made herself vulnerable like this, or the last time she had allowed herself to cry.

Why couldn’t Ozma have seen things her way? If only he hadn’t allowed himself to be taken in by the Gods’ lies and manipulations, then their children would have survived, their kingdom would still be intact and-

Her thoughts were cut off as an arm snaked its way around her shoulders, causing her to jolt in surprise. Glancing around, the witch saw Tai giving her an apologetic and sympathetic look.

“Sorry. I just… thought you could use support after... what you just told me.” He said simply.

“I see. Thank you.” She brought her own hand up to give the man’s own a soft squeeze, it felt pleasantly warm and rough to the touch. “That means a lot to me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Tai smiled at her, it was a sad and melancholy one, but a smile nonetheless. “Us divorcees need to stick together, eh?”

“Yes.” Salem agreed. “That… that would be a good idea, I think.”

The duo stayed in the clearing for a good few minutes more, sitting in silence, both adults taking comfort in the realisation that they were not alone in their suffering. That there was someone else out there who had been through similar circumstances and could empathise with them.

It was a peaceful and quiet moment of security for then both… but it could not last forever. Salem eventually pushed herself up off the tree trunk, turned back to Taiyang and offered him her hand.

"Come, let us return to your family. They might be worried in our absence." She explained, as Tai took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. She turned to begin the journey back, until Tai called out to her once more.

"Hey, Seline?" 

"Yes?" She turned back to face him, a curious eyebrow raised in the father’s direction.

"Thank you.... I really needed that pep talk." He admitted, offering her a warmer smile than his previous ones. However, his use of ‘pep talk’ irritated her somewhat.

"It was not a 'pep talk', it was the truth, nothing more." Salem insisted.

"Yeah. But still, you know something?” The man asked.

“No, perhaps you might enlighten me?”

“Even after everything that’s happened. Even with all the years that have passed… I just can't stop thinking about her… can't stop caring about her." The ex-Huntsman admitted. “Kind of pathetic, right?”

"I disagree.” Salem replied, earning a curious look from her friend, so she continued. “It is not ‘pathetic’. It is simply further proof of your strength of character. Despite everything Raven Branwen has done to you, that you still care for her is quite remarkable."

"I... I never thought about it like that." Tai replied, his own eyes wide in contemplation.

"Well, perhaps now you will. And Taiyang...if I may offer some honest advice, for the future?"

"Yeah?"

"Banish all thought of her from your mind as best as you can, focus on caring for your daughters and your brother-in-law.” Salem encouraged him. “They are still here, they still care for you. They are the ones who deserve your affection and care, not that cowardly weakling your former wife proved to be."

“Well, even though those are some pretty strong opinions you’ve got about my ex… it’s not a bad idea, honestly.” Tai sighed, before glancing in the direction of his house. “Maybe I should stop living in the past, maybe I should start focusing on the present.”

“You see? You are on the right track already.” The witch complimented him.

“Thanks, Seline.” Tai said. “And speaking of being on the right track…” He gestured roughly to the north. “We should probably be getting back, eh? Like you said, the girls and Qrow might be up, and if they are then they’re probably wondering where we are right now.”

As the witch began following the father out of the clearing, she whispered one last piece of advice. It was lost on the wind, but she gave it nonetheless.

"Treasure your family while you can, Taiyang… you never know when you will have them taken from you."


	8. Unpleasant Confrontations and New Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem meets Raven for the first time, and plans for the future once again.

By the time she awoke the next morning, Salem, or rather Seline, felt quite refreshed both physically and emotionally. Her midnight talk with Taiyang had not only helped in healing his troubled mind and giving her friend a new focus going forward, it had been insightful for her as well. 

She felt that they had forged a new kinship and bond, by virtue of their shared circumstances and marital suffering. Of course, this was a one-sided bond on her part, she had not revealed her own marital troubles to him just yet, but she intended to at some point. It was only fair after all he had revealed to her, after all.

The smell of cooking wafted into the witch’s nostrils, fully rousing her from her groggy state. Seline pushed herself out of bed, making sure to replace the covers and pillows properly (she was nothing if not a courteous guest) before leaving the room. She made sure to stretch a few times on her way down, sighing in relief as several pops were heard and her stiff spine loosened considerably.

Even as an immortal, she was not exempt from the aftereffects that came with long periods of immobilisation.

She made sure to walk slowly and carefully, she had no idea if any other family members besides Taiyang (since he seemed to be the cook of the house, so it was likely that he was the one in the kitchen now) and she would rather not wake them before they were ready.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the sorceress glanced into the kitchen to see Tai moving around near the counters. There were several pans on the stove, containing items that Seline identified as bacon, sausages and beans. Ah,some form of cooked breakfast then.

“Good morning Taiyang.” She greeted, in a slight whisper.

“Oh, hey there Seline!” The man called back at a significantly louder volume. Noticing her quizzical look, he chuckled. “Don’t worry about making too much noise, all these rooms are soundproofed.” The father assured his guest.

“Ah, I see.” The other blonde agreed, before switching her attention to the pans behind her host. “Well, I see that breakfast is well on the way, I was woken by the smell of your cooking.”

“Well, glad to see  _ someone _ appreciates the work I do in the kitchen.” Tai smiled at her, though Seline didn’t see the funny side.

“You mean your family refuse to respect your culinary skill?” Her blue eyes narrowed, with her lips thinning into a frown at the thought.

“Um, that was a joke, Seline.” Tai rubbed the back of his neck. “I keep forgetting you’re a bit… awkward. Sorry.”

“Ah. I see.” The witch’s small smile returned. “Yes, I can be rather awkward, I must admit. Your apology is accepted.”

“Well, thanks.” The father turned back to the pans. “As for breakfast… we’re having a nice, cooked breakfast this morning. Some bacon, sausages, eggs are over there on the tabletop, beans are nearly finished, and there’s toast on the way too.” Looking over his shoulder, Tai smiled once more and raised an eyebrow. “Interested in anything there?”

“Well, perhaps some sausages with beans for me, if that is alright?”

“Yeah, that’ll be fine. The toast and eggs are more for the girls anyway, lord knows Yang’s gotten to be quite the big eater recently, all that training she’s doing isn’t exactly easy.” Tai explained.

“Well, I suppose a growing girl like her is in need of more nourishment than most, especially given her intended occupation.”

“Yeah. Well, everyone should be getting up in a minute or two, but let me just go and make sure the girls are up. Qrow should be in the living room on the sofa, if you want to go and wake him up.” 

At the mention of that drunkard, Seline needed to fight to keep her expression from souring and her hands clenching. As far as she was concerned, he needed to answer for his incredibly rude comment last night, and she suspected Taiyang would be more likely to let it slide and not risk a confrontation.

Well, that was no problem. She would simply confront Qrow on her friend’s behalf.

“Of course.” She managed to squeeze out through gritted teeth, managing to keep her expression even. “Go and wake your children, I will see to it that your brother in law is awake, and hopefully  _ sober. _ ”

“Hehe, yeah.” Tai scratched his head bashfully, before moving to the stairs. As he made ascend them, he turned once more to his friend. “Hey, Seline?”

“Yes?”

“I just… wanted to say thank you, again, for last night.” The man smiled at the witch. “It was… it really helped me, I needed a little wake up call like that.”

“Think nothing of it. I was simply trying to help a kindred spirit.” Seline assured him, honestly.

“Well, I still feel like I should thank you. If you ever need someone to talk to…well, I’d be happy to listen to whatever you need to get off your chest, you know that right?” 

“Of course. Thank you for your offer, I will certainly take you up on it. Perhaps not now, but at some point in the future.” The blonde woman assured him, to which the ex-Huntsman nodded.

“Alright. Well, let me check on the girls.” With that, Tai turned and began ascending the stairs, leaving Seline on the threshold to the front room. Now alone, she allowed her expression to crumple from a pleasant smile into a disdainful scowl. Stepping into the room properly, she spotted the curled up form of the drunkard lying on the sofa, with an empty glass and bottle beside him.

Letting a frustrated growl slip past her lips, especially once she got close enough to smell him. He  _ reeked  _ of alcohol. Either he was already drunk, or he was  _ still drunk from last night. _ The disguised Grimm Queen did not know which option sounded worse, and frankly, she was long past caring.

With her disdain for the man’s constant intoxication and incredibly rude comment about Taiyang’s past marriage last night overpowering her willingness to be a courteous guest, Seline decided to wake the drunkard up in the most appropriate manner she could think of.

Namely, by application of her heel directly to his gut.

“Hurrk!” Came the strangled groan as the drunkard shot up, then immediately collapsed, rolled off the sofa and writhed around on the floor clutching his stomach. Seline watched all of this with a contemptuous glare.

“Gah! W-what the hell!?” The man finally spluttered as he scrambled to his feet. “What was that f-” He was cut off once more, this time as Seline’s hand swept across his cheek quite viciously. Since he wasn’t prepared, his Aura wasn’t engaged, and thus he stumbled back with a look of shock on his face.

“Let me make this  _ very _ clear to you.” The blonde woman snarled out, before the oaf could even begin to open his mouth. “That was a punishment for your behaviour last night, it was despicable, it was callous, and it was  _ pathetic _ .” 

“I dunno what the hell you’re on about!” Qrow protested, only for the witch to stab a finger in his face, her scowl morphing into a more aggressive snarl as she continued.

“No, I doubt you would. I doubt you even REMEMBER much from last night, do you? And why is that?” Without waiting for him to answer, Seline ploughed on. “Because you were drunk, and from the reactions of your nieces and brother-in-law, it seems that being drunk is your natural state these days.”

“Great.” The man growled. “You getting on my case about it too? Why not, I already have enough people telling me to lay off the booze anyway.” 

“Well, then perhaps you should LISTEN TO THEM!” The blonde woman snapped, her azure eyes flashing in frustration. “Especially since your disgusting habit is clearly harming your relationships with your family members. Do you even care about their wellbeing at all, or is maintaining a healthy emotional connection with them secondary to your need for alcohol?!” She was practically seething, even as the drunkard’s own eyes narrowed back at her.

“Hey, I might be a drunken wreck half the time, but don’t you dare try and tell me I don’t love my nieces.” Qrow growled back at her, suddenly shifting to a more aggressive stance as his fists called at his sides. “They’re all I’ve got left of my team besides Tai, they’re family and I love em.”

“Well, you have a strange way of showing it, don’t you?!” The witch snapped back. “Personally, I don’t quite know  _ why _ you Ruby looks up to you the way she does, what is there about you to idolise? She might see some larger-than-life hero that she aspires to emulate, but all I see is a pathetic and drunk weakling. You’re no different than that sibling of yours.”

In an instant, his red eyes flashing with outrage, the alcoholic Huntsman had gotten right in her face, a hostile snarl slipping past his lips as he started down. Despite her being cut off from her magic, her lack of Aura and subpar combat skills, Seline refused to be intimidated by him, her icy azure orbs meeting his burning crimson with a fierce glare of her own.

“I’m not Raven.” He snarled. “You know why? Raven  _ left _ them, she went running back to her tribe of thieves and killers while I stayed to try and pick up the pieces she left behind! You really think I’m anything like her when she ran and I stayed!?”

“Yes, you both share a similar weakness in character.” She replied, coldly. “You might not run from challenges, as your sibling did, but you let them break you instead. You were weak enough to let them destroy you, to tear you down so thoroughly that the only way you can get through your life is to drown yourself in liquor, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year! Clearly your family’s opinions do not truly matter, or you would have stopped long ago.”

“Of course they matter to me!” The drunkard practically bellowed at her.

“Then  _ prove it _ , Mr Branwen.” Seline insisted, snatching the man’s flask out of his coat pocket. “Prove that they truly are more important than this… this  _ poison. _ For their sake, and for yours… stop destroying yourself, prove that you truly are of stronger character than Raven Branwen, and prove that you are someone that young Ruby can look up to.”

With her piece said, the witch shoved the flask back into the man’s hands, pushing past him to return to the kitchen. As she reached the door, she turned back to offer the last word.

“I believe an apology to Taiyang would also go a long way, wouldn’t you agree Mr Branwen?”

The drunkard- no,  _ Qrow _ , only nodded weakly. Well, at least she seemed to be getting through to him. As she strode out of the room, she found Taiyang, Yang and Ruby all descending the stairs.

“Qrow is up, I have seen to that.” She said.

“Thanks. But… I couldn’t help but overhear some… raised voices when we were coming down.” Tai admitted.

“Why were you and uncle Qrow arguing miss Luna?” Ruby asked, with the innocent bluntness of youth.

“Yeah, it sounded like you were gonna rip his head off.” Yang commented, before her lilac eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong with our uncle Qrow that made you start yelling at him?” She asked, folding her arms.

Seline sighed, perhaps she had pushed a little too far… still, honestly was the best policy here.

“Truly? The problem is his drinking.” The woman said. “It is a disgusting habit that I simply cannot tolerate.” Off the family’s looks of shock at her blunt insistence, the witch forged ahead. “I apologise for causing any offence… I simply want to avoid his vices ruining his relationships with his loved ones.

“Believe me when I say that I have personal experience in this matter. I would prefer not to discuss it now, but all it takes to destroy a family is allowing a single vice or character flaw to fester for long enough, without taking steps to address it.” Seline closed her eyes as the painful memories began to emerge once more, though she forced them down through sheer willpower. “It tore my family apart… and I do not want that to happen here.”

The three family members took a moment to stare at her, quite clearly not expecting such a detailed and… emotionally deep explanation from their guest.

“Oh.” Was all Yang had to say, the teenage girl’s lilac orbs still wide.

“I’m sorry about your family, miss Luna.” Ruby offered, the younger girl’s silver orbs glimmering in sympathy. Within the witch’s mind, Moriy let out a low growl at the sight of it, which Seline dutifully ignored.

“Thank you for your concern, but it was quite some time ago, I believe I have… mostly gotten over it.” That was a lie. Completely. She would never get over what had happened to her family, what Ozma’s cowardice had done to it, but it was necessary to get her hosts to stop worrying about her.

“Alright.” Tai accepted her explanation. “Well… I suppose Qrow could use the kick up the ass, I’ve been trying to get him to quit the flask for years and he’s never listened. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”

“I can only hope so.” The witch agreed. 

The girls descended the stairs and moved into the kitchen, Taiyang made to follow them, only to almost run into Qrow as the man stumbled out of the front room. Seline, who had moved over to the kitchen counter to wait for Tai, looked back to observe their interaction. Perhaps Qrow would heed her advice after all…

“Hey uh… mornin Tai.” Qrow greeted him, looking a little sheepish.

“Morning Qrow.” The father replied.

“Look, sorry about… about last night, that was a really shit thing to bring up, even if I was drunk. And, uh… that’s the other thing, I’m sorry for being drunk pretty much all the time. It’s… it’s a really terrible example for Ruby and Yang.” The man admitted, crimson eyes seeming to shimmer with a couple of tears as he began to choke up. “I-I’m sorry for being such a shit role model for-”

He was cut off as Tai wrapped his arms around his brother-in-law, pulling him in for a hug.

“Hey, c’mon. I’m just glad that you’re saying sorry.” The father assured his former teammate. “Look, we can talk about this after breakfast, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.” Qrow agreed, before reaching into his pocket and passing the surprised man his flask. “And uh… can you hold onto this, for now?”

“...yeah.” Tai agreed, after a moment of contemplation, taking the flask with a small smile on his face. “I can do that for you.”

As the two men moved over to join the girls at the breakfast table, Seline couldn’t help but smile slightly.

_ Hopefully, these efforts will not be in vain. _

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A couple of hours later, and Seline found herself on the front porch of Taiyang’s house, saying her goodbyes to the family and thanking them for letting her stay the night.

Ruby and Yang had already given their thanks, Ruby for giving her a socially awkward friend to talk to, Yang for essentially smacking some sense into her uncle, as the younger blonde had said when she had taken the older woman aside for a quiet chat shortly after breakfast.

Yang had admitted that she was a little fed up with Qrow’s drunken antics, and thanked the other blonde for browbeating some sense into the man. The brawler promised to keep an eye on Qrow’s behaviour, and keep him on track when she could.

Well, at least someone else cared enough to do something about his alcoholism. That was a comforting thought for the sorceress.

Right now though, Taiyang was the only one left to give his own thanks, the rest of his family having retreated inside for some of those  _ accursed _ video games. Just  _ thinking  _ about that one game’s utterly  _ ridiculous  _ interpretation of magic had Seline grinding her teeth together and clenching her fists.

“So, you sure you need to head off quite so soon?” Tai asked, snapping her back to the present. “I mean, we’d be happy to let you stay another night, if you need to.”

“No, it is quite alright. I have… other duties to attend to.” She replied.

“Well, okay then.” He accepted her decision fairly easily. “So… do you know when you’ll be back in town?” He asked.

“It might be several months, I apologise. But I will make sure to visit when I can, I give you my word.” Seline assured her friend.

“Thanks. And thanks again for last night, it… it really helped me.” Tai rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, a sincere smile on his face. “You’ve been really great Seline, so I want you to know you’ll always be welcome here.” The older brawler insisted.

“Thank you, Taiyang. That means a lot to me.” The witch replied, her own smile blossoming on her face. “I… suppose it wouldn’t be too forward to ask for an embrace as repayment?” For the first time in a long while, there was a ting of pink on the disguised woman’s cheeks.

Of course, this blush was only amplified as Tai stepped forward to wrap his arms around her upper body, pressing her against his own surprisingly firm and rugged form. It took Seline a moment to reciprocate, her own arms slipping around his sides to rest at his shoulder blades, but she quickly settled into the embrace.

Her friend was surprisingly warm, and comfortable. Really, how difficult would it be for her to simply drift off into a peaceful sleep? Especially since the embrace made her feel… safe? Yes, it made her feel safe, she couldn’t remember feeling that since-

Caw! Caw! Caw!

The two blondes broke apart in surprise at the sudden, and rather loud, cawing. Glancing around, Seline spotted a lone bird perched on a nearby tree branch. She didn’t know why, but her instincts told her that the bird was looking right at them…

“Ahem! Anyway!” Tai brought her attention back to him, his own cheeks rather pink as well. “Well, guess I’ll be seeing you around sometime?”

“Yes. Indeed you will.” Another smile from her, it was still rather surprising to the witch just how easily her friend could coax smiles and laughter out of her. They were rare things these days. “Well, I must depart, enjoy your time with your family, won’t you?”

“Yeah, I will. I’ll keep an eye on Qrow while he’s here, hopefully he’ll keep taking your advice about his drinking.” The father said.

“I hope so too.” The witch admitted. Looking out at the forest before her, she ran a hand over her rapier and glanced back to Tai. “Well, until the next time… farewell Taiyang.”

“See you around Seline.” With one last smile, the man retreated into his house and closed the door, leaving a rather pleased witch alone on the porch.

Well, this visit has been quite a success for the disguised Grimm Queen. Her mind felt clearer, and it had been quite enjoyable to tear down that alcoholic Huntsman. Right now, she needed to reconvene with her servants and check on the progress of her plans, as well as pay someone else a little visit, but she would certainly be returning at some point.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

Hearing that bird’s caw again, Seline narrowed her eyes to glance in its direction again. There it was, on the same branch. There was definitely something about that bird, the witch couldn’t quite place it, but something about it was… unnatural.

**That… is not… a bird.**

Moriy’s voice made her jump, since he’d been more or less silent for the entire morning up till then.

_ What exactly do you mean, Moriy?  _ The witch replied.  _ Yes, perhaps it might be a little… odd, but I fail to see anything truly abnormal regarding that bird. _

**Look closer… it resonates… with magic. I can sense it.**

_ That is ridiculous, how could a mere bird possibly possess magi-  _ She began to reply, only to cut herself off as she reached out with what little mana she had to probe the surrounding area. The minute her probe swept over the bird, Seline realised that Moriy was right, that was  _ not  _ a regular bird.

There was magic saturating it, a very specific form of magic.

Transformation magic.

Which meant that was not a bird at all. It was a human being disguised as a bird.

And of course, besides herself, there was only one other person who could bestow magic to others like that, simply because he was the only other person who even HAD magic to give.

Ozpin.

The witch barely suppressed a snarl at the realisation. That even here, on this lonely little island at this lonely little wooden cabin, her nemesis was  _ still _ watching for her. Would she  _ never  _ be free of him!? Would he NEVER leave her in peace!?!

Of course, her mental companion did not improve her mood with his next observation.

**It appears… to be… a human. Female… she is… familiar to us.**

In her anger, Seline impulsively pushed further to satisfy her curiosity, her senses peeling back the magic surrounding the bird, revealing its true form. Though outwardly, it was still a raven, to the witch’s eyes it was a human now perched on that branch. A woman, in fact.

A woman she recognised. 

How could she not? Tai had described her appearance to the disguised sorceress on the way back to his house last night, and she had made sure to burn the description into her mind for later.

In hindsight, perhaps the name should have been quite a large indicator by itself.

Of course, knowledge of that shape shifting creature’s real identity did nothing to calm her down, in fact, it only made her even angrier.

Not only was Taiyang’s former wife  _ spying  _ on them, after fleeing from his life 17 years ago and not returning to it at all, she was apparently still in service to Ozpin, much like her brother was.

Seeline had been considering her stance on the woman for a while, and while it had been fluctuating between ‘contempt for her disregard for Taiyang and his children’ and ‘dismissed as a pathetic wretch’, it had now settled firmly on ‘worthy of a sliver of her undying fury and hate’.

With this hate firmly in her mind, Seline fixed the polymorphed raven with a decidedly hateful glare as she strode forward. Upon drawing close to the tree it was perched on, the blonde withdrew her rapier from the scabbard and held it up, holding it so that the blade seemed to slice across the raven’s neck when she held the rapier lengthways in front of her eyes.

Even though she was supposed to be maintaining her cover as an ‘ordinary’ human, she couldn’t restrain her anger, or her desire to put this filthy, neglectful little  _ wretch _ in her place.

She’d start with a threat, keeping it simple.

“You might not understand me in that form, but this must be said.” Seline narrowed her blue eyes, expression firmly in a scowl. “I despise you, you spineless and heartless wretch. I cannot fathom what madness possessed you to convince you to leave a life with that man and his children behind, to return to that tribe of murderers and thieves and  _ filth. _

“Your abandonment hurt him, it hurt him deeply. That is not something I will abide happening again.” The witch’s scowl intensified, her rapier hand shaking with anger. “I will warn you only once, leave your former spouse and his children in peace, or you will regret it.”

The transformed bird cawed once, then took off. Seline watched it go. Once she was sure that she was no longer being watched, the blonde set off into the forest. After she was sure there was no one watching, she released the mana locks around her sealed dark side.

As the Grimm essence began to flood through her body once more, Moriy began to fade into nothingness within her mind. Still, the witch decided to say a proper goodbye to her rather unorthodox companion.

_ Farewell, Moriy. Until the next time. _

**Farewell… Salem.**

After a moment of acclimating to her new- well  _ old  _ form, Salem drew forth her mana, focused on visualising her personal quarters deep within her castle, and vanished.

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It took her a few minutes to exchange her white ‘Huntress’ outfit for her traditional black robes. The familiar outfit was comforting, but the dark witch would readily admit that her ‘uniform’ was growing on her.

Sighing to herself, Salem flung open her chamber doors and started down the corridor to her meeting room.

She got about 5 steps before she was nearly jumped by a sobbing Tyrian.

Throwing up a magic barrier to stop the deranged man from _ tackling _ her, Salem seized the fanatic in a telekinetic field, setting him down gently while making sure he wouldn’t try and leap at her again.

“M-mistress!” The scorpion Faunus practically cried out, eyes wide with actual  _ tears _ . “I am so happy you’ve returned! When you didn’t come back yesterday, we all feared the worst!”

_ Ah, of course… my absence was longer than anticipated. _ The dark queen mused.  _ Well, I suppose I will need to soothe their doubts. _

“Calm yourself, Tyrian.” Salem insisted softly. “I simply took longer than usual on my… excursion, there is nothing to fear.”

“W-what sort of journey, my Goddess?” The man asked.

“None of your concern.” She stated. “Now, how fare the others in their assignments?”

“ Oh, things go well, mistress! Everything is proceeding as planned!” Fortunately, her most fanatical follower was quick to change the conversation topic according to her desires, ever eager to please her.

“Excellent. In the meantime, inform Arthur that I have another assignment for him.”

“Yes my lady, whatever you desire!” Tyrian practically grovelled.

“I want him to uncover everything there is to know about a certain individual.” Salem explained. “Whatever resources he requires will be made available to him, is that understood?”

“Yes, my Goddess! Just give us the name and it will be done!” The Faunus assured her.

At the thought of the person in question, Salem’s expression collapsed into a scowl. Even though it was not aimed at him, Tyrian still shivered a little at the extent of his mistress’ anger.

“Her name, Tyrian, is Raven Branwen.”

As the scorpion hastened to comply with his lady’s orders, he heard her voice call out for him one more time. “Tyrian, one more thing.”

“Yes, my lady?” He replied, bowing in reverence, as he had neglected to do up till now.

“I would like you and Hazel to go forth and retrieve one of each strain of Dust crystal, then bring them to my chambers, it is high time I enchanted my weapon for future errands.” Salem admitted.

“At once, my Goddess!” Tyrian insisted. “M-may I ask for what purpose?”

In reply, his lady’s expression shifted once more, this time into a smile. Despite that, it carried a similar measure of cruelty as her previous scowl. And as far as Tyrian could discern, it was aimed at the same person.

“Oh, merely a little bird hunting, dear Tyrian.”

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At the same time, in the region of Amina, the woman in question had just finished flying back to her tribe’s current camp. Pushing past her perimeter guards, ignoring all of their calls or greetings to her for the time being, Raven shoved her way into her personal tent, to make sure she was not disturbed.

Only when she was in private did she allow herself to react to the events of earlier today. Specifically, her encounter with that blonde woman she had seen at Taiyang’s house.

Her sporadic visits to her former spouse’s residence had been motivated mostly by curiosity. Though she was content with her life with the tribe and would never be returning, she saw no harm in keeping discreet tabs on her former family, especially that brother of hers. Even if he was a drunkard and in service to Ozpin, he still had his uses.

It had been much the same as any other visit, at least until the end, where Taiyang had emerged from his home in the company of a woman, a blonde with blue eyes, much like him. Raven had to admit that she had a reasonably attractive figure, though it was nothing compared to her own, of course.

If that wasn’t enough, there was what she had heard Tai say. Thanking her “for last night”? How it had really “helped him”? Hmmph. There had been no doubt in the bandit queen’s mind, that woman was just her spouse’s attempt to fill the void left by her departure. Summer had been his first try, now her? How desperate was he?

Then again, that was just like her former lover, he was too dependent on emotional attachments, too needy for her tastes. That woman was clearly a coping mechanism for him, someone who would accept all of his soft-hearted gestures and make him feel valuable.

Of course, her opinion of this woman changed rather drastically when she had approached the tree Raven had been perched in and looked directly at her.

She had not been overly worried at first, perhaps she simply disliked birds in general, there was nothing to be alarmed about.

At least, until the woman had drawn her rapier and drawn it up in a throat-slashing motion, aiming it for the neck of Raven’s avian form.

Any thoughts that the blonde was unaware of Raven’s true nature were crushed when she began speaking directly to her. Or to be more accurate, when she had begun  _ threatening her _ . 

She had warned Raven to stay away from her former spouse in the future, that she would not be happy if she found the polymorphed woman anywhere near Taiyang’s residence when she visited, that she would visit vengeance upon her.

Ordinarily, Raven did not take threats like this seriously. Many had tried to end her life in the past, none had succeeded, of course. She was too strong for them. Too strong for all of them.

But this woman was not like those people. This woman was different. Raven was stumped as to her method, but this woman had seen through her avian form. She was completely unaware of anything in this world, be it magical or technological in nature, that could allow a person to do that.

Hmmm… she would need to be cautious in the future. What had Tai called the woman? 

Seline. That was her name.

Raven’s crimson orbs narrowed, her hand drifting to the hilt of her nodachi.

_ You had best watch yourself, ‘Seline’. You have made a very powerful enemy today. _


	9. A Day in the Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiyang and Haven's Leonardo Lionheart both go about their days as teachers....with a surprise visit for the latter at the end of his day.

“Well, that’s it for today’s lecture class. Remember to read up on the material and do all your prep work for next week, I don’t want anyone slacking off again!”

A chorus of groans from his students was the immediate response, along with several additional complaints of ‘overworking them’ and ‘having too much to do to worry about homework’. All in all, they were miserable at the prospect of work outside of class.

Taiyang shook his head, a soft sigh slipping past the lips as he began packing away his papers and notes. Well, they might not enjoy the additional work, but it would only help them in the long run. Better to give them a good work ethic here, as opposed to waiting until they graduated to a more advanced academy, such as Beacon, to start enforcing that discipline into them. By that point, it would likely be too late for most of them.

Most of his students did wave goodbye to him, a few of the more well-behaved ones even wishing him a pleasant evening, which he was quick to reciprocate.

“Bye professor Xiao-Long!” His last student to leave, a girl by the name of Celia White, called back to him, waving with a smile on her face. “Have a nice day, sir!”

“You too Celia, you too.” The ex-Huntsman replied as she vanished from view. Now alone in his classroom, the blonde man simply went about packing up the remainder of his teaching aids in silence, a process that took him a few minutes. In the meantime, he let his mind wander, mostly to thoughts of his not-so-new-anymore friend, Seline.

He wondered where the woman was right now, where her own calling as a Huntress had taken her. He hoped that she was alright, especially given her lack of an active Aura. Some might have called her foolish, but Tai couldn’t help but admire her, she was strong-willed indeed to pursue a Hunter career without an Aura.

Perhaps he should call her? He did have her number, after all.

No… he didn’t want to seem too needy or anything, it had only been just over a  _ week _ since they last saw each other, that was nowhere near a long enough wait for Gods’ sake!

Another week? Yes, wait another week, then try and contact her. That was an acceptable wait, wasn’t it? Not too early that he seemed needy, but not so late that he seemed disinterested or it seemed as if he had forgotten about her.

With this in mind, Taiyang began to head out, whistling a merry tune with a slight skip in his step as he made his way slowly to the cafeteria. While the running students around him told Tai that it would be the usual scramble for a place in the lunch queue today, as a teacher he was allowed to cut the line if he so chose. 

Sometimes the perks of his position outweighed the responsibilities.

With this in mind, Tai allowed a smile to grow on his face as he entered the cafeteria. Striding over to the lunch queue, he plucked out a tray from the nearby stack and slid smoothly into line, though he didn’t cut right to the front. It took about half a minute for him to reach the serving area and pick out his lunch for the day, he decided on something simple, a generous helping of the toast, egg, beans and sausages.

As the Signal professor began making his way over to the mass of tables that made up their cafeteria, he heard a shout from over the din that made him turn his head.

“Hey tall, blonde and scraggly! Over here!” A rather rough voice called out. Tai simply smiled in response, knowing only one person who continued to call him that name, even though they were no longer Beacon students.

Looking over he caught sight of Qrow, seated alone at a table of his own, a small tray of food in front of him that was already half gone, courtesy of the man wasting no time tearing into it. Tai just shook his head, a small smile on his face, and gradually sauntered his way over to sit down next to his brother in law.

“So, how’s your day been?” The brawler opened the conversation as he took his seat. Qrow simply grunted in response, shaking his head and sighing.

“You know how they are, one group of brats is just the same as any other.” The avian man grumbled. “Talking in class, not paying attention to the material then moaning that they can’t understand what’s going on…” Qrow just groaned and shook his head, taking a bite of one of his chicken wings to calm himself down. “What about you, any horror stories from the classroom?”

Tai just smirked a little, reaching over to pat Qrow on the shoulder in mock sympathy. “Fraid not, my kids have been fairly well-behaved as a matter of fact. Taking their notes, paying attention to the lectures, doing the prep work… perfect little angels, they are.”

“Alright, alright, you don’t need to rub in it that much.” Qrow groused, picking at his meal once more with a sullen look on his face. “Sheesh, here was me thinking that my luck might get better for once, fat chance of that.”

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.” Tai insisted. “Look, even if your classes are still as badly-behaved as they were before the week off, you’ve still cleaned up your act haven’t you? You’re hardly ever drunk in class anymore.” The brawler observed.

“How’d you know about that?” Qrow questioned, eyebrows raising as he gazed straight as his ex-teammate.

“The students talk, Qrow. Especially when some of your students also happen to be my students as well.” The blonde explained wryly. “They’re happy that you’re no longer belching and groaning your way through classes anymore, one student in particular was pretty over the moon about it.”

As if on cue, both adults jolted in their seats as a rather loud “WHAT’S UP OLD MAN!” sounded from right beside him. Looking around, they found themselves facing the grinning visage of one of their own family members, the blonde Dragon of Signal, Yang Xiao Long. The girl was carrying her own tray of food, hers piled high with the macaroni and cheese served that day, along with sausages and bacon strips.

“Sunflower, did you  _ have _ to yell so loudly?” Tai asked, with the infinite patience of a father who had put up with his daughter’s eccentricities countless times before. Qrow, on the other hand, was less tactful and grumbled out. “Brats always trying to blow out my eardrums around here.”

“Aw comon pops, that’s just how I greet people!” Yang replied, taking her seat at the table and beginning to tuck into her own meal. After a full half-minute of scarfing down her food in much the same way a starving animal might., the younger blonde finally took a break and have a sip of her orange juice, while also casting her gaze around the cafeteria several times. It was after the third repetition that Tai decided he should speak up.

“Are you waiting for anyone in particular, Yang?”

“Just Rubes, she should be getting here right about now.” Yang observed, once more twisting around to try and spot her sister. This time, the blonde spotted the telltale red cape of her younger sibling, and so immediately waved towards her and called out “Hey Rubes, over here!”

A gust of jetstream and a flurry of rose petals later, and Ruby Rose burst into being just in front of the trio’s table.

“Hi!” She chirped out, setting herself down next to Yang and tucking into her own food. Tai couldn’t help but be mildly amazed at the objects on her plate, a cursory glance showed that the young reaper had chosen a serving of beans, some tomato slices, some sausages, poached egg and toast. There was even a glass of orange juice resting next to her plate, a far cry from Ruby’s usual glass of milk, but the most shocking thing for the two adults was that out of all the food on her plate, Ruby had left one out.

There were no cookies anywhere in sight. Instead, a small pile of strawberries lay waiting for her.

Even as Ruby merrily began to tuck into her chosen lunch, Qrow and Taiyang were still rather transfixed by the spectacle. In all honesty, while they’d humoured Ruby’s desire to change her diet and ‘catch up’ to Yang, neither man had taken it overly seriously, expecting the girl to revert to her mostly cookie diet within the week despite being willing to help her with her new resolution.

“Impressive, huh?” Yang cut in, the lilac-eyed girl smirking at her father and uncle as they watched Ruby obliviously tucking into her surprisingly healthy meal. While the two men merely nodded in reply, Yang sent them a vaguely smug look. “Yeah, she’s still going. She’s been a real good girl about eating your veggies, haven’t you Rubes?” The brawler cooed, patting her sister’s head.

“Mph-! Y-Yang!” Ruby spluttered. The younger girl had been in the middle of drinking her orange juice, and Yang’s sudden affection caught her off guard enough for her to start choking a tad. Levelling a glare (which really just looked cute given that it was  _ Ruby _ doing the glaring) at the blonde brawler smiling down at her, Ruby pouted and crossed her arms. “There was no need for that!”

“Aaaw, but you’ve been so good with your diet!” Yang gushed happily, choosing instead to snatch Ruby up in a smothering hug. “You’ll be just like your big sis in no time if you keep this up, don’t you worry!”

“YANG, STOP!” The sisters’ squabbling was observed by the two older men, both of whom had smiles on their faces. Seeing the two interacting and squabbling was honestly quite cute, mostly because they didn’t do it all that often, nor did they mean it. In the end, Ruby and Yang were perfectly open with being affectionate to one another, even if Yang did take it to embarrassing levels sometimes.

Like right now, for example.

“Alright girls, that’s enough.” Tai said, reaching over to break his squabbling daughters up with a gentle hand to move both of them apart. “Your food’s gonna get cold if you keep squabbling, you don’t want that do you?” In an instant, both Ruby and Yang had not only stopped their sibling antics, but were also frantically tucking in to their meals, both girls’ eyes wide with terror at the possibility of cold food.

They’d been forced to suffer through that once, never again.

“Smooth move.” Qrow commented snarkily, digging into his own food. “This you trying to make sure that you’re still the top parent around here?”

“I’m the only parent around here right now, Qrow.” Tai replied, giving his ex-teammate the eyebrows and head tilt.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Qrow admitted, taking a swig from his flask. “That’s only because your girl’s not around, isn’t it?” He asked, cheekily, flashing a grin that had Tai rolling his eyes.

“She isn’t ‘my girl’ Qrow, she’s a friend.”

“Sure, whatever you say, pal.” His brother in law smirked to himself, prompting Tai to let out a half sigh, half growl at the man’s antics. Even when he was working as a teacher, Qrow could still act more like a child than half of the students he taught.

“Well, laugh all you like, but I’m supposed to keep her updated about your progress too, you know.” Tai was none too ashamed to admit that a smile ghosted across his face at the brief nervous look Qrow wore on his. “How have  _ you _ been doing with  _ your _ resolution Qrow?” He allowed a brief hint of smugness into his voice, though privately he was hoping that the man had been keeping up with it. It was in his best interest, after all.

Much to his surprise, Qrow reflected Tai’s smirk as he uncorked his flask once more and offered it to the elder brawler. Taking a sniff, the blonde realised that the usual smell of alcohol was nowhere to be found.

“Relax Tai, it’s just water. See, I’ve been good too.” Qrow insisted, taking the flask back and taking another sip.

“You’re not only doing that because you’re afraid Miss Luna will yell at you again, right uncle Qrow?” Ruby asked, the younger girl blinking up at the man with large eyes. “It’s just, you’ve been doing really well so far and-” She was cut off by Qrow pressing a finger softly against her lips.

“Hey, don’t worry kid, I’m not that weak willed.” Qrow assured her. “Besides, she might’ve been a bit direct…”

“You mean she tore you a new one?” Yang cut in, eyebrow raised with a goaning grin on her face. 

“BUT… it was what I needed to hear.” Qrow admitted, pointedly ignoring his niece's comment. “Drinking the way I was, it wasn’t healthy, for me or for you. I was just barely coping with it and when I wasn’t… well, you all had to cope for me.” His crimson eyes seemed to dim as Qrow continued. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you had to put up with me like that.”

“Hey.” Tai gave him a gentle shove and a friendly smile. “Don’t worry about it, scrawny, at least you’re trying to do something about it now, right?” The Huntsman raised an eyebrow at his friend’s use of ‘scrawny’.

“Yeah. guess I am… knucklehead.” Qrow threw the jab back at his ex-teammate. The two men share a small laugh at memories of one of the less pleasant (at the time) facets of their time as members of team STRQ. Looking back, they couldn’t help but cherish those times, both good and bad, in the wake of their team dissolving and fragmenting as it did.

Ruby and Yang had in the meantime stopped squabbling, and now gazed across at their father and uncle while tucking into their meals. Both girls also had smiles on their own faces at seeing their mentor figures and family interact like that. Both of them were also pleased at Qrow was still sticking to his resolution to try and quit his drinking, or at least tone it down.

He’d been making good progress, the girls always checking his flask and emptying its contents if it smelled like alcohol, as Qrow had told them to do when he took them aside and asked them to help him out. Though in practice, this translated to the sisters doing it entirely at random, just to throw the man off. Each sister had their own strategy, with Ruby replacing the flask’s contents with milk, while Yang found a health drink (which tasted suitably disgusting) to top it up with. 

While there had been quite a few of these ‘incidents’ in the few days immediately following Seline’s departure, the siblings’ efforts (especially Yang’s) had left Qrow wary enough of his flask to begin filling it with water. While he had initially hated the absence of his traditional liquid courage, the man had slowly grown used to it.

It felt stranger now when he didn’t have water in his flask, if Qrow was being honest.

“Well, we’re glad that you’re making the effort, uncle Qrow!” Ruby chirped, the young reaper smiling happily at the older man.

“Yeah, I can’t tell you how glad I am that I no longer have to sit through my hungover uncle belching and groaning his way through a lecture.” Yang threw in her two cents, smiling all the while and sighing with relief. “That was really embarrassing for my street cred.”

“Yeah yeah yeah… yuck it up now Firecracker.” Qrow gumbled, before he smirked in retaliation. But since I’m getting my life back on track, I’d better see about being a better teacher. I think I’ve been letting your brats take it easy for a bit too long.” At Yang’s wide-eyed look, he merely grinned.

“Don’t worry Firecracker, I’m sure being the niece of the class’ hardass teacher will do wonders for your ‘street cred’.” The Huntsman patted the Dragon of Signal on the shoulder, the mockery quite plain in his words.

“You wouldn’t do that to my class, would you uncle Qrow?” Ruby asked, silver orbs shining and lower lip quivering slightly as she spoke. The older man nearly clutched at his chest from the image, she really was too adorable for her own good.

“N-no, course not kiddo.” He ruffled Ruby’s hair in reassurance. The young girl flashed him a bright smile as thanks, while Yang folded her arms and sulked angrily. 

“That’s just not fair.” She growled, lilac eyes narrowed to slits.

“Maybe you should be cuter like your sister.” Tai drawled. “Of course, if she sticks to that diet of hers, she’ll not be cute for much longer.” He mimed wiping a mock-tear from his face. “They grow up so fast, don’t they?”

“Yeah, look on the bright side Tai. The kiddo might finally start attracting some boys like Firecracker does.” Qrow said, enjoying the way Tai’s azure eyes shot open and his whole form seized up.

“Okay she doesn’t need to grow up THAT fast.” Tai hurriedly amended, before he turned to Ruby once more. “Well, I hope you’ll remember to thank Seline when we next see her, for helping you set your diet on track.”

“Sure thing, dad!” Ruby chirped, shoving another strawberry into her mouth. “Thanks to Miss Luna, I’ll be big and strong in no time, I’ll be the big sis this time!”

“Sure you will Rubes.” Yang ruffled her younger siblings hair good-naturedly. “Say pops, have you heard anything from her in a while?”

“No, I haven’t.” Tai admitted.

“Huh, any idea what she’s doing?” Ruby asked curiously.

“No, but since she’s not called or texted or anything, it’s probably pretty important.”

\-------------

Line Break

\-------------

“Bye/goodbye/night, Professor!” His students chorused, the uniform-clad teenagers filing out of his class at the ring of the bell. Most of them did so in an orderly fashion, though some insisted on pushing and shoving, causing the man to shake his head.

There were always the impatient ones, weren’t there? Even in his class.

“See you tomorrow, students.” Professor Lionheart replied, while gathering up the papers and documents he’d used in his latest lecture. A soft sigh whistled past the faunus’ lips, his tail swaying lazily behind him. Well, at least the students had paid attention to the lecture this time, and there’d not been any who had decided to try and doze off.

That was a marked step up from a month ago, for which Lionheart was thankful, since even his underachieving students were willing to improve and learn. That was more important than initially enthused students who allowed their enthusiasm to wane over time, at least in the Headmaster’s opinion.

As the last of his papers were filed neatly into the folder at his side, the Headmaster of Haven Academy set off toward his office at a leisurely pace. Classes were over for the day, the students retreating to the safety of their dorm rooms to spend the remaining hours however they saw fit.

For Leonardo Lionheart, on the other hand, his day was not yet over. He still had one more responsibility before he could return to his home for the night.

_ No sense in putting it off. _ The man resolved as he made his way to his office, folder clutched under his left arm. It was not a particularly long journey from his lecture hall, but long enough that it gave Lionheart a brief chance for reflection. Most times his thoughts turned toward current events, but sometimes his reflections went further back.

This was one of the latter times, since his thoughts turned towards the task he and Mistral’s Hunters had been attempting to accomplish for the past five years, locating the Spring Maiden.

A heavy growl slipped past the Headmaster’s lips as he lamented his continued failure. Five years. Five whole years and there was  _ nothing _ … the young Maiden had covered her tracks well, he and his Hunters had not found much evidence as to her destination or current location. That simply confirmed that her decision to flee was not a spur-of-the-moment impulse, but rather a pre-meditated and well-planned out decision.

For a young teenage girl (as she was when she vanished) she displayed a rather disturbing learning curve for misdirection. As his palm met his face and his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose, the Lion of Mistral could only hope that his agents would find a trail eventually. It was imperative that the Spring Maiden be found, even if she could not be convinced to return to the fold, they could at least keep watch over her, to ensure that the Queen’s own agents couldn’t reach her.

Finding himself outside his study, Leonardo shelved his reflections, pushed open the door and stepping inside. Locking it behind him and placing his folder of documents on a nearby shelf, the Headmaster moved to his desk, plugged his personal scroll into the attachment port… and waited.

It was only a few moments later that his scroll began to vibrate, while the desk’s holo screens lit up to display an incoming call. There was only one person who would call Lionheart at this time, especially since the screens displayed the symbol of a gear within an eye. There was one person and one person alone who used that symbol.

Ozpin.

With a fortifying breath, Lionheart pressed the ‘answer call’ button on his scroll, watching the screens light up with the visage of Beacon’s very own Headmaster, the Wizard of Vale himself and Lionheart’s unofficial boss for the last two decades.

“Ozpin.” Lionheart greeted.

“Hello, Leonardo.” The man greeted. “I trust I’ve not called at an inconvenient time?”

“Oh, not at all, classes have just finished and there’s very little paperwork for me to do.” The Haven Headmaster assured him. “Was there something you needed?”

“I’m afraid there is, Leonardo.” Ozpin admitted, one hand removing the glasses from his face. “I would like you to allocate more resources to the search for the Spring Maiden. I understand that this might be inconvenient for you, but it is imperative that she be found as soon as possible.”

Lionheart’s response was to growl softly, one hand coming up to rub his forehead, already thinking of the various hoops he would be required to jump through by the Mistral Council. Even if he did possess a seat at the table, convincing his fellow councillors to re-allocate more resources to a thus-far fruitless search, already 5 years ongoing, would be difficult. Very difficult.

“Ozpin…” Lionheart sighed. “I hope you understand that the Mistral Council will NOT let this go easily… they feel that our current efforts and resources allocated are more than enough, and at least one member told me that he feels it’s  _ too much _ . I… I’ll be under quite a lot of scrutiny from them for this, you understand?”

“I understand perfectly, old friend… but it must be done regardless.” Ozpin implored. “The Winter and Summer Maidens are safe for now, but the Fall Maiden is still incapacitated and her attackers have yet to be found.”

“I see.” Lionheart met Ozpin’s gaze with one of his own. “How… how is Miss Autumn?”

At this, Ozpin’s eyes darkened, the man visibly  _ slumping and wilting _ in his seat, suddenly looking far older and more tired than he ever had before.

“She is not well, Leonardo. Miss Autumn is dying, even the best medical care we’ve been able to procure can only do so much to repair a sundered soul. With her injuries… the best case scenario is that she remains in her coma indefinitely, at least until the stolen half of her powers are reunited. In the worse case… she will weaken and eventually die, and the remainder of her magic will be transferred to her attacker.” The Beacon Headmaster explained gravely.

“That is why you  _ must _ find the Spring Maiden as soon as you can.” He urged his longtime friend. “We need to ensure that she can be protected from the Queen’s inevitable attempts to either neutralise or recruit her, she is the only Maiden thus far unaccounted for.”

Leonardo’s only reaction was to nod. Even if it took a good deal more time and effort, it was worth it to ensure the safety of Mistral… and indeed Haven Academy itself, as well as the Relic it guarded.

“You’re right. I’ll begin preparations as soon as I can.” He promised.

“Thank you, old friend.” Ozpin’s tone was sincere, the man offering a warm smile. “I appreciate your assistance. Do take care, won’t you?”

“I will Ozpin, you as well.” With that, the two men shared a small laugh between them before the call ended, leaving the Lion of Mistral alone in his office.

It did not take too long for Lionheart’s expression to collapse into a frown, one hand meeting his forehead and temple in short order. His mind was already working to come up with convincing arguments he could use to sway the council into supporting continuing the search for the Spring Maiden, or the ‘valued asset’ as they believed her to be.

A lie of course, but a wholly necessary one, since there was absolutely no chance that Lionheart would reveal to the council exactly what his ‘asset’ was truly capable of. Gods knew what those people would do once they realised they had an honest-to-Gods  _ magic  _ user on their side.

Best case scenario? Well, she might be asked to manipulate the weather to ensure that the farmlands were always productive. The worst case scenario, on the other hand…

Lionheart shuddered at the mere thought.

Unplugging his scroll from the attachment port at his desk, the man stood and began his route around the office. He collected together his personal belongings, made sure all relevant folders of teaching material (tests to be graded, notes for his lectures, comments and alerts from his other teachers regarding student performance, as well as problem students he might need to have a word with) were shelved in their proper places. He also checked his inbox, noting a missed call from the deputy head, a request to meet with him and discuss the semester’s written exams.

He made a mental note to have that discussion first thing tomorrow, before the classes began. For now though, it was time for the Lion of Mistral to return home, to enjoy what few hours of the day remained.

Locking up his office as he stepped out, Lionheart found a few members of his staff also on the way home. They exchanged pleasantries and small talk the whole journey, with the most common topic being their gripes with certain ‘problem’ students in their classes. 

Doctor Clementine, the Grimm Biology teacher, went on a rather lengthy rant about a boy who expressed some rather bigoted views in her class that had her peers sighing and rolling their eyes. It was not the first time the boy had acted up like this, nor was it Dr Clementine’s first time expressing her anger over it.

Professor Noir, the history teacher, instead took issue with how few of his current students could truly appreciate the impact the Great War, as well as the resultant Treaty of Vytal, had on modern society. Far too many of them saw the conflict as, in Noir’s own words, ‘a contest to see which Kingdom was better’. That elicited only exasperation and irritation from the headmaster, he had grown up on stories of the Great war from his father, someone who had fought on the front lines for Mistral… and who had beheld firsthand the destruction wrought once the King of Vale had finally decided that his personal intervention was necessary.

Finally, there was Professor Waterhouse (or Agnes, as she allowed her peers to call her). Her primary concern was that too many of her class’ students took sparring as an excuse to just defeat and humiliate their opponents, often using a bevy of colourful language and childish insults in the process. For them, it was more about beating their opponent, and thus they missed the true purpose of the spars; to improve themselves and their opponent, to develop their fighting style to better combat human opponents. Agnes, normally rather reserved and quiet, got surprisingly animated and angered as she continued, which simply proved just how deeply this issue concerned her. 

Before Lionheart could offer a solution or console his peer, the motley group of teachers had made their way to his residence, the first one en-route to the others. Bidding his fellows farewell, the Haven Headmaster unlocked his door and stepped inside. Greeted by the warmth and comfort of his home, Lionheart breathed a sigh of relief.

After a long day as Haven’s Headmaster, the Faunus man enjoyed nothing more than relaxing in the comfort of his own home, preferably with a cup of tea and a good book to entertain him.

As he ambled into the kitchen, switched on the kettle and began to feel around in his cupboards for a box of digestives, Lionheart allowed the strangely calming whistle of the device to reach his ears. He let out a breath, the stresses of the day melting away under the comforting atmosphere of his home.

The kettle’s whistling and steaming finally cut off, prompting the man to douse the teabag within his teacup with hot water, taking a spoon to mix it together until the teabag was well-steeped, before adding a generous amount of milk. Taking a short sip after removing the teabag, Lionheart’s sigh was a contented one, it was not too strong with the right amount of milk, just the way he liked it.

Trudging lazily back into his living room, cup of tea in one hand and box of digestives in the other, Leonardo Lionheart was ready for a nice lazy evening. Nothing to worry about and nothing to bother him. However, as he entered the room proper and made for the sofa, something occurred to the Haven Headmaster, it would be rather difficult to read his book in the very dim light of the late evening.

Odd… he could’ve sworn that he’d turned the light on as he’d come home. So why was-

The tendrils came shooting out of the darker corners of the room without warning, wrapping around and constricting Lionheart’s limbs before he could try and dodge them. The headmaster tried to struggle, even flaring his Aura, but this simply prompted the tendrils to tighten further, the constriction wearing on the older Huntsman’s Aura steadily, until that tell-tale shattering sound reached his ears. The futility of his situation finally setting in, the Lion of Mistral simply sagged as the tendrils wound their way further around his legs and arms.

Is this truly how his life would come to an end? Murdered in his own home by Grimm that had managed to slip past the Kingdom’s defences? How… how was this possible!? How did they-

And then as the pair of Grimm floated forward, revealing nothing more than bulbous spherical heads, from which sprouted the masses of tentacles currently ensnaring the Headmaster, he understood.

“Go on then… kill me.” He spat defiantly at his captors.

“Oh… I’m afraid they won’t be doing that quite yet.” Came a new voice. It was not one Lionheart had ever heard before now but it still caused him to freeze up in terror. Especially as the figure it belonged to seemed to  _ manifest through the shadows themselves  _ to approach the fallen teacher, crimson orbs gazed coolly back at his brown ones all the while.

“Welcome home, Leonardo.” Salem greeted him, her calm voice utterly at odds with her terrifying presence. “I’ve been waiting for you.”


	10. Deal With The Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salem makes Lionheart an offer.

Moving forward and sliding into the seat opposite the restrained man in front of her, the Queen of the Grimm laced her fingers in front of her, the calm and serene smile never leaving her face. 

This of course did nothing to calm Lionheart, in fact it only caused him to experience greater terror. Even if struggling against the Seer tentacles binding him was useless, the man still tried, exhausting nearly all of his remaining strength in trying to free himself. It might have been a doomed endeavor, but it was the last, and only, show of defiance he could exhibit.

For her part, Salem watched the Headmaster’s struggles with a raised eyebrow and amused smile on her face. It was almost… cute, watching the fool in front of her attempt to delay the inevitable. She could apply his behaviour here to the whole of Humanity, even though her victory was simply a matter of time, they would continue struggling to the very end.

Which would make crushing them so much sweeter.

In time, she would turn every human on the planet against one another, she would force Ozpin to confront the cold, hard truth that his delusional optimism was severely misplaced. She would turn everyone against him.

But for now, she would start with the man in front of her.

“There there, Leonardo, don’t fret. I’ve merely come to talk with you, is all.” She began, rising from the chair and moving to stand directly in front of Lionheart. The Seers’ tendrils forced the beaten Headmaster to look up and meet her gaze, his brown orbs practically shining with equal parts fear and determination all the while.

“What do you want?” He growled out, attempting to seem purely defiant even as his lingering fear seeped into his words.

“Why, dear Leo, I’m very glad you asked.” Placing a few fingers under his chin to tilt the man’s head up even further, Salem allowed a small smirk to plaster itself on her face. “I simply want to discuss… an offer.”

“What could you possibly offer me?” Lionheart asked, still staring her down as best he could.

“A way out, Leonardo.” The sorceress stated, running her fingers along her prisoner’s chin, causing him to shiver at her touch. “How long have you been Ozpin’s puppet, hmm? A decade, two, three? How long have you been fighting and bleeding in his name, while he cowers behind the walls of his academy, behind those children he conscripts into our little war? Do you even know the truth behind our conflict?”

Lionheart said nothing, he merely continued to stare at her, so Salem continued.

“There are many truths Ozpin has hidden from you, but the only one that matters to you is this; the war is lost. It always has been, you and your little ‘protectors’ have never stood a chance.” This time, her smile was cruel.

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take you at your word, witch.” The stare intensified into a glare as Lionheart put as much force behind his words as he could muster, but…. _ there it was _ . She could smell it, the slightest whiff of fear from the man, caused by that creeping doubt in his cause and the mere possibility that she was telling the truth.

“Ah, of course, you need some convincing...you need proof, don’t you?” At a gesture, the two Seers behind her began to move forward, tendrils rising upward as the glow from their bulbous heads intensified.

Her captive stiffened, eyes narrowing and irises contracting as he sucked in a sharp breath. Ah, what a predictable yet adorable reaction….he thought those were for  _ him. _

Pain erupted from her chest as her Seers' barbed tendrils pierced her flesh and burrowed into her vital organs. It was all she could do to keep her expression even and neutral, despite her nerve endings screaming at her to do something about the invading objects. 

A quick glance down and....yes. There they were. The tendrils had emerged from her front by now. A pity about the gown she was wearing, it was one of her finest after all. 

However, it was a small price to pay in exchange for watching the face of her captive twist into an expression of shock and horror. 

Allowing a smile to cross her face, Salem leant gently forward until she was eye-to-eye with the Headmaster. 

"And what about now, my dear Leonardo? Do you think that Ozpin can stop me  _ now _ ?" 

The man's mouth opened and closed a good four times as he struggled to find his voice. Salem was quite pleased to note the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, as well as that  _ delicious _ aroma......he was scared now. More scared than he had been at any point prior. 

"You...y-y-you.....you aren't dead." 

"Of course I'm not, and I never will be. Not until this world ceases to turn, anyway. And you, my dear Leo, will be long gone by then. Of course-" At her gesture, a Seer raised a free tendril threateningly in his direction. "-if you aren't going to co-operate, then you'll not have to worry about that for very much longer."

Seeing Lionheart’s expression steadily twist into dawning, horrified comprehension, Salem decided to push forward, while ordering the Seers to retract their tendrils. Even as the gaping wound began to heal, she raised her hand, gently brushing her fingers across the Headmaster’s left cheek and softening her smile a little.

“Do you really want that, my dear Leonardo? To throw away your life for the sake of a coward’s worthless cause? To me, I can think of no greater waste of a precious life than that, and why would-”

“No.”

Raising an eyebrow, Salem hardened her gaze.

“What was that?”

“No.” Her captive took a steadying breath, looking her dead in the eyes all the while. All the previous terror being replaced with steadily resurging determination. ”I… I swore an oath that I would follow Ozpin’s cause through to the end. I might not be able to stop you, but that doesn’t change my mission: to protect the peace we’ve been able to achieve, to pass on all of my knowledge to my students to protect them as best I can, so that they might continue where I leave off. If you want to kill me, then….then fine.

“Someone else will take my place, as I did for my predecessor. Your invincibility doesn’t change the fact that Ozpin has kept you at bay for centuries...possibly more. All with the help of people like me. Of brave Huntsmen and Huntresses willing to give their lives to defend Humanity. My death won't change that, will it?”

Salem suppressed a sigh of irritation. Apparently Leonardo Lionheart had a stiffer spine than she had thought, even well in his older years.

_ Wait, what was that just now? _

_ Ah yes, Huntsmen and Huntresses...those come from Academies, don’t they? An Academy much like his, in fact… _

“Of course...you’re quite right, Leonardo. I doubt killing you will change anything.”

Her captive seemed to relax a little at that, until she continued on.

“Killing your children, on the other hand...your little trainees in that Academy of yours, I imagine that might change things quite a bit.”

“You….they’re no part of this war. They got nothing to do with this.” Lionheart breathed out, shock spreading over his face.

“Oh, I’m afraid they do Leonardo.” Salem adopted a more apologetic look as she continued. “They were made a part of this war when Ozpin chose to hide his precious Relics within the Academies they train at. If I am to get what I want...I will need to go through them.”

A small smile slipped onto her lips as the Grimm Queen began again, the apologetic look slipping away, while the Headmaster had already begun to relapse into the horror he had felt earlier.

“Why, all of those poor, undertrained children, dying by the dozen on your little training excursions, against Grimm that by all rights should not have been in the areas you use to train them. Just imagine, if you will, the shock...the horror those poor parents will feel. And the anger, of course. The anger at the Academy, at  _ you _ , for  _ failing _ to protect their precious children.

  
  
  


“So much negativity, so much  _ despair _ ...all fuel for my babies.” A hand reached out to stroke the bulbous head of the nearest Seer. “Drawing them deeper and deeper into your precious Kingdom, in greater and greater numbers. How long, do you think, you will last against that  _ tide _ , Headmaster? How long until it  _ crushes _ you and your little fiefdom under its weight...and I get what I want regardless?”

Leaning down, Salem adopted a neutral expression, staring the sweating and shaking Lionheart down with a dispassionate stare. “And make no mistake, Leonardo...I  _ will _ get what I want. It is simply a matter of time, after all. And if there is one thing I have in abundance, it is time. Time to plan. Time to act. Time to wait. Do  _ you _ have the time that I do?

“Well, food for thought, I suppose. But the only thing you need to think about is how this ends, with relatively minimal bloodshed, or with scores of your people butchered simply for your defiance here?

“Their blood will be on your hands, witch! You’re the one controlling that Grimm that will kill them!” Lionheart spat angrily, despite the fear he still felt.

“I suppose you’re right about that, yes...but that won’t stop the guilt you’ll feel, will it? That won’t stop you feeling responsible. After all, you are their Headmaster. It is your duty to safeguard them as much as you can...and when you fail, no matter the circumstances and no matter your efforts to protect your students, the easiest person to blame will always be yourself. For you and for your people too, that is.”

Re-adopting her smile, Salem knelt down to the Headmaster’s level.

“But you can stop all of that from coming to pass...if only you help me with getting what I want. The Relic that your Academy conceals. That is all I really desire...one simple item for hundreds, thousands...possibly even tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. You might not be an active Huntsman any longer, Leonardo...but you can  _ still _ be a Hero to your people, right now.

“You can make the choice that none of your peers could ever truly make. Ozpin is obsessed with finishing his ‘mission’, Theodore is far too concerned with his absurd contests of strength...and James is living in delusion, thinking that I can be stopped with a large enough army of toy soldiers. None of them would ever consider the choice I offer viable...and in doing so, they will condemn the students under their care to death. Does that sound like something a ‘Hero’ would do, Leonardo? Endangering, even  _ sacrificing _ their charges for the sake of one man’s mission?

“Personally, I would consider a Hero to be he who does what no other would do. He who is willing to shoulder the burdens of the world...to give of himself that others might benefit. You have the opportunity to do this, right here. Should you….make certain arrangements that benefit my short-term goals, I will ensure the long-term benefit that my agents shall not directly harm or attempt to subvert your Academy. I cannot promise the same of my children, of course...but I can give my word that I will not direct them here myself. They may wander into your territory naturally, but that really cannot be helped in the end.

“Should Ozpin and his little alliance, or indeed the world at large, find out about what you may do here today, they will turn on you. They will condemn you. Your reputation and all you’ve achieved will burn in the fires of public opinion. You will go down in history as the man who betrayed all of humanity...but you can take comfort in knowing that you did it to uphold your oath as a Huntsman, to  _ defend your people _ from annihilation. You can rest assured knowing that what you did was  _ right _ in the end. That your people are alive to condemn you  _ because _ you acted. That you did what none of your peers would ever do: give of yourself to the very last piece to protect your people.”

“I will give you some time to think it over, supervised of course by my Seer here.” At her direction, the nearest Seer Grimm began to float forward, away from the group. “He will ensure that you don’t say anything to Ozpin about our...little meeting tonight. Do be assured, he is  _ quite _ adept at avoiding detection by Humans...and his hearing is  _ very _ good indeed.

“But, just to be sure...I suppose a little insurance won’t hurt.”

Lionheart looked positively petrified as the Seers holding him captive jerked his left arm upward and rolled back his sleeve, forcing it towards Salem’s own outstretched hands. Taking the old man’s left forearm in her hands, Salem concentrated and began to chant the Aria of Revelation under her breath.

_ “Quando hic revelare. Fiat ei sicut lux lucere in tenebris, et non abscondam a me ut omnis porro intentio.” _

A gasp of pain slipped from the Headmaster’s lips as a sigil began to etch and burn itself into his flesh. The sigil of an eye that contained within the emblem of Haven Academy and Salem’s own insignia, a Queen chess piece, side by side. As it finished materialising, the sigil glowed bright...then vanished.

“There, now. This will ensure that I will always know where you are. So, should you attempt to leave your Kingdom to visit dear Ozpin...well, I’m sure you can imagine the consequences well enough, Leonardo.” The Grimm Queen’s red eyes flashed dimly as the Seers temporarily tightened their tendrils’ grip on the Lion of Mistral.

At a snap of her fingers, however, the Seers released him just as swiftly as they’d first captured the Headmaster, who instinctively began breathing deeply in and out to try and steady himself. The Seers returned to Salem’s side as her hands began to glow with purple-black energy. The ground around her followed suit, with dark energy beginning to swirl around the Queen and her accompanying Grimm.

“I will be in touch within a month, Leonardo. I hope you will have made the right decision by then.”

With that, the dark energy imploded, taking Salem and her accompanying Seers far, far away.


End file.
